The Dakota County Board of Commissioners will deliberate a resolution during today’s regular meeting to send a letter to the Commissioner of the DNR expressing the County Commissioners’ objection to Empire Builder Investment’s plan to export bulk amounts of water from the County. According to the meeting agenda, the DNR recently reviewed a Preliminary Assessment Application from Empire Builder Investments, Inc., for withdrawal of up to 500 million gallons of groundwater per year from two proposed wells north of the City of Randolph. The proposed water use was to transfer the potable water via rail for bulk sale to customers in the western United States. The letter would express potential concerns with future water availability due to population growth based on Metropolitan Council’s water availability projections, as laid out in Met Council Master Water Supply Plan projections, county residents being opposed to transporting Dakota County water resources to other states, and request the DNR develop legislative action to restrict any bulk exportation of water resources from Minnesota. The Board of Commissioners meeting is scheduled for 9 AM, at the County Government Center in Hastings.
