Drinking water

There's no excuse for unsafe drinking water. Yet every day, there are Minnesotans whose health is put at risk by outdated lead service lines, aging water treatment infrastructure or community wells tainted with nitrates. Unsurprisingly, it's often economically disadvantaged communities and communities of color who are most at risk. At FMR, we advocate for funding and policies that will ensure all Minnesotans — regardless of their ZIP code — have access to safe drinking water, while simultaneously defending the important environmental protections that do exist.

Drinking water

Restoring public oversight of major MPCA decisions

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February 14, 2024

We all benefit from community oversight of the biggest, most important agency for pollution regulation in Minnesota. Read more

A flurry of hands in the air, fingers pointed up as if wanting to interject in an important conversation.

Winter oilseeds: Key to clean water and lower emissions

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January 1, 2024

These clean-water crops, which stay in the soil through the winter, can benefit the river in numerous ways. Read more

Organic farmer Karen Torjesen holds a hand low to the ground, amidst a recently planted field of winter camelina in November, 2023.

EPA says state needs to clean up drinking water in SE Minnesota

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November 15, 2023

In response to a petition we signed last spring, the federal agency is requiring Minnesota to address the public health crisis created by nitrate pollution. Read more

A bad idea that won't go away: Diverting the river

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November 10, 2023

Despite its high environmental and economic costs, the literal "pipe dream" of diverting water from the Mississippi River to Arizona, Colorado and other dry states won't disappear. Read more

Outline of U.S. with Mississippi River, plus a pipeline splitting off the river to the Southwest

Minnesota's drought contributes to drinking water crisis downriver

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October 10, 2023

In this Q&A, Matt Rota at Healthy Gulf in Louisiana talks with FMR about the saltwater intrusion in the Mississippi River threatening New Orleans' drinking water supply — and already impacting communities farther south. Read more

Army Corps boats construct a sill to prevent saltwater intrusion

Is Minnesota doing enough to protect our drinking water?

by Trevor Russell

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September 13, 2023

A recent headline in the Star Tribune said it all: 'Little action so far on plan to enlist farmers to clean up polluted groundwater in Minnesota.' How did we get here? And what do we do about it? Read more

Person holds a mason jar of clear water in a field of Kernza

Sackett case: How the Supreme Court ruling impacts the Mississippi River

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June 12, 2023

On May 25, the U.S. Supreme Court announced a decision that drastically narrows the scope of the Clean Water Act and represents one of the most far-reaching rollbacks to this decades-old law since its passage in 1972. Read more