Laserfiche WebLink
<br />[204185/1] 11 <br />k. This “profligate use of summertime irrigation” is the major <br />driver of the outsized increase in water consumption in this <br />area. <br />l. Mr. Sather [White Bear Lake City witness] testified that the <br />citizens of the City of White Bear Lake voluntarily reduced <br />their water use by 20 percent in response to a water <br />emergency caused by drought. They did so only for a short <br />time: With the passing of dry years and with the return of <br />normal rainfall, the city went back to using their previous <br />volume of water.58 <br />59. The District Court ordered the DNR to take the following actions with respect <br />to “groundwater permits within a five-mile radius of White Bear Lake”: <br />a. Within six months after August 30, 2017, prepare, enact, and <br />enforce a residential irrigation ban when the lake elevation of <br />White Bear Lake is below 923.5 feet. DNR was further ordered <br />to continue the irrigation ban until the lake reaches an <br />elevation of 924.0 feet. <br />b. Require all existing permits to have an enforceable plan to <br />phase down per capita residential water use to 75 gallons per <br />day and total per capita water use to 90 gallons per day on or <br />before August 30, 2018. <br />c. Require all groundwater permittees to report annually to DNR <br />on collaborative efforts with other northeast metro <br />communities to develop enforceable plans to phase down per <br />capita residential water use to 75 gallons per day and total per <br />capita water use to 90 gallons per day. <br />d. The court's order also directed the DNR to “immediately <br />amend all permits to require that, within one year of <br />August 30, 2017, all permittees must submit a contingency <br />plan in their water supply plans for conversion to total or partial <br />supply from surface water sources.”59 <br />60. Additionally, the District Court directed the DNR to: <br />Analyze the cumulative impact of these permits within the five-mile radius <br />of White Bear Lake to determine whether pumping at the maximum rates <br />allowed by the permits is sustainable. The specific results of the analysis <br /> <br />58 WBL-Dist, at *6 -*54. <br />59 Id. at 71.