Nitrates, soil health and a potential health crisis in Southeast Minnesota are topics at groundwater forum

Nov. 17—LANESBORO, Minn. — Five speakers gave their varied — yet sometimes overlapping — perspectives on groundwater, nitrates and a potential health crisis in Southeast Minnesota on Thursday night, Nov. 16, at Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center near Lanesboro.

"How worried should we be about ourselves with our water," said Aleta Borrud, a physician and former Minnesota state senate candidate.

Borrud and the other speakers addressed a crowd of well over 100 people who came to listen and learn.

Tim Little, who has about 5 acres near Harmony in southern Fillmore County, said he was shocked by a map showing how many sinkholes — more than 10,000 — existed in Fillmore County.

"The geological makeup of this area is so different and requires special treatment of soil, right?" Little said. "I mean, our farming practices right now are not conducive to keeping our water clean."

That's something Martin Larsen, a Byron-area farmer who also is a feedlot technician for Olmsted County, talked about during his presentation.

Larsen explained the structure of the karst geology and how it contributes to moving contaminates from the fields to the groundwater. He also talked about good soil practices, crop diversity and cover crops can reduce nitrate levels in the groundwater.

"It's important for me to share the story that there's optimism out there," Larsen said.

Larsen's big emphasis was on reducing corn and soybean acreage and increasing oats and alfalfa as well as cover crops, all of which help pull excess nitrates from the system.

The standard for nitrates is 10 parts per million or less from the tap for drinking water, but people with private wells often find their nitrate levels are higher. High nitrate levels are associated with a variety of illnesses, mainly methemoglobinemia — otherwise known as blue baby syndrome — as well as conditions in adults including increased heart rates, nausea, stomach cramps and headaches.

Borrud added that studies have shown potential links between high nitrate levels and certain cancers, though she insisted more research is needed in that arena.

A trained epidemiologist, Borrud said, "We have enough evidence. There is enough evidence already."

Some studies, she said, indicate setting the limit at 10 ppm might be too high, and the standard should be lowered to half that.

Little, who gets his water from a private well, said he learned that his water, which has been tested at 5 ppm, might not be healthy.

"The government is saying 10 parts per million is kind of the level at which things are safe," Little said, talking about his takeaways from the forum. "But 5 (ppm) is still iffy in my estimation from what evidence I've seen tonight."

Little said he was interested to see the connection between water quality and tourism in the region.

Monta Hayner, a fly-fishing guide for the Driftless Fly Fishing Company in Preston, Minnesota, talked to the audience about the importance of outdoor recreation as an industry in Southeast Minnesota. She said contaminates such as nitrates and bacteria in the area's trout streams negatively impact tourism.

She said while the Driftless region is gaining popularity nationally as a fly-fishing destination, bad news like large fish kill events spreads quickly in the angler community.

Sam Blackburn, who lives just north of Forestville State Park in Fillmore County, said he was surprised to learn how much the choice of crops can affect water quality.

On Nov. 3, 2023, the federal Environmental Protection Agency had ordered the state of Minnesota

— particularly the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the state departments of health and agriculture — to

develop a plan to reduce nitrates and provide safe drinking water for people impacted.

Blackburn said he wanted to see those agencies work together. Something Carly Griffith, water program director for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, said has not happened yet.

Griffith said for years the state agencies have each owned a piece of the puzzle for regulating safe drinking water and groundwater safety in Minnesota, but none of them have taken responsibility.

"My biggest hope is that some of these agencies will work together," Blackburn said.

The fifth speaker Thursday night was Paul Wotzka, a hydrologist, farmer and co-founder of Minnesota Well Owners Organization.

"Private well owners, first and foremost, you're on your own," Wotzka said. "You are personally responsible for the safety of your drinking water."

Like Larsen and others, he pointed out that nitrates are often seen as an indicator for other problems in the groundwater. If the water from your tap is over 10 ppm, it's likely you have other contaminants — bacteria, herbicide and pesticide residue — that have followed the water from the surface to the aquifer.

"We ain't going to change the geology," Wotzka said. "We have a very, very, very porous landscape."

That landscape comes with sinkholes and naturally thin soil levels, which all lead to groundwater contamination, he added. But water is life and livelihood in Southeast Minnesota.

"We have to do everything we can to conserve that resource," he said.