Response to EPA Nitrate Letter for Southeast Minnesota

Background

On November 3, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requested the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), and Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) develop a coordinated and comprehensive work plan to reduce nitrate contamination of drinking water in eight southeastern Minnesota counties. 

The eight counties included are Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha, and Winona.

• Minnesota’s Workplan: Addressing Nitrate in Southeast Minnesota (PDF)
• Response to EPA’s request 01/12/24 (PDF)
• Response to EPA's request 12/01/23 (PDF)
• EPA's request: EPA Southeast Minnesota Groundwater

On this page:
Bottled water for eligible households
Reverse osmosis treatment for eligible households
Well test kits for eligible households
Status of work on EPA's request
Minnesota's work plan
Commonly asked questions
Resources
Contact information

Bottled water available for private well households with a baby or pregnant person

The MDH is able to provide limited bottled water to private well households that meet all of the following:

1. Rely on a private well as their primary drinking water source.
2. The private well is in Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha, or Winona county.
3. The private well water has been tested at an accredited laboratory on or after January 1, 2019 and the test result showed a nitrate concentration at or above 10 milligrams per liter (mg/L).
4. There is a pregnant person or baby under 1 year of age in the home.

Bottled water is intended to be a short-term solution until a longer-term solution is available.

To determine if your household is eligible, complete the form below.

Request Bottled Water

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Point of use reverse osmosis treatment for eligible households

The MDA has a formal workplan and agreement in place with local partners for this pilot program.

• The MDA has identified eligible households through their private well testing programs and sent out invitation letters in May 2024.
• A limited number of initial reverse osmosis treatment systems should be available through the local partner starting in fall 2024.

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Well test kits available for private well households with a baby or pregnant person

The MDH is able to provide limited well test kits for private well households that meet all of the following:

1. Rely on a private well as their drinking water source.
2. The private well is in Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha, or Winona counties.
3. There is a pregnant person or baby under 1 year of age in the home.
4. The private well has NOT been tested for nitrate since 2019. 

To determine if your household is eligible, complete the form below.

Request Test Kit

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Status of work on the EPA’s request

State agencies send a quarterly report to the EPA about efforts to address nitrate in groundwater in southeast Minnesota. The linked documents are the full report sent to EPA.

• January-March 2024 Report
• April-June 2024 Report

Below is a summary of efforts shared in the April-June quarterly report to the EPA. As of July 2024, the State is collaborating with local partners to:

Encourage people to test their private wells. This includes providing well testing messages through partners and paid social media.

Provide limited alternate water. We are prioritizing private well households with a nitrate concentration above 10 mg/L and a pregnant person or baby under 1 year old in the home. Additionally, the MDA program will prioritize households at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty guideline. There are two forms of alternate water at this point: 

• Point of use reverse osmosis treatment systems for eligible households through a pilot program with the MDA and local partners. Over 300 eligible households have responded that they are interested in the mitigation program. The reverse osmosis treatment systems will be installed starting in the fall of 2024.
• Bottled water through the MDH. Five eligible households have requested bottled water.

Provide limited free well testing for coliform bacteria, nitrate, arsenic, lead, and manganese for private well households that have not tested for nitrate since 2019 and have a baby under 1 year old or pregnant person in the home. Twenty-seven eligible households have requested a well test kit.

Prepare for the roll-out of Phase II work. Phase II efforts focus on identifying impacted residences, education and outreach, well testing, alternate water, and launching a public dashboard. Minnesota Legislature appropriated the following to carry out the first year of this work: 

• $2.79 million dollars from the Clean Water Fund (Minnesota Laws of 2024, chapter 106, Article 2, Sec. 7)
• $2.8 million from the General Fund (HF 5247, Article 37, Section 1)

Convene the Southeast Minnesota Nitrate Strategies Collaborative Work Group to help address nitrate. The work group members were selected in June 2024 and is comprised of 19 members representing a variety of interest groups. This includes agriculture sectors, non-profits, local governmental units, citizens, and state agencies.

The work group members met for the first time on July 11, 2024. The next meeting is set for August 14, 2024 and will meet approximately monthly thereafter for about a year. The Work Group will:

• Build a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities of addressing nitrate pollution in southeastern Minnesota. 
• Deliberate and build consensus on ways to strengthen the long-term nitrate reduction strategies. 
• Develop recommendations for improving, prioritizing, and implementing strategies, including strengthening communication and engagement activities, policy or funding proposals, or collaborative strategies to accelerate prevention and mitigation activities.  

Learn more more about the workgroup’s progress at Addressing nitrate in southeastern Minnesota.

Update Minnesota’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy (NRS)
A kick-off NRS outreach event was held June 10, 2024, and was attended by 341 people, including members of state agencies, retired lawmakers, the media, agriculture commodities groups, environmental advocacy organizations, and concerned citizens. Audience members indicated that they had many questions about the NRS and wanted additional follow-up about content. Webinars are being planned for the remainder of 2024 and early 2025 and will be held on a quarterly schedule. An NRS outreach webinar will be held on August 12, 2024 and will cover nutrient loads in the Red and Mississippi Rivers.

Propose draft feedlot permits
The General NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) and SDS (State Disposal System) permits for confined animal feedlots expire in 2025 (SDS) and 2026 (NPDES).  The MPCA hosted several stakeholder meetings in the development of the proposed draft permits. The focus for the proposed draft permits is to continue reducing nitrate in our ground and surface waters to protect human health and the environment. The proposed draft permits include new nitrogen application requirements to limit nitrate leaching potential. Draft of the NPDES and SDS feedlot general permits are available for public comment through Sept. 3, 2024. Learn more at Feedlot permits.

Engage stakeholders during the feedlot rule revision process. The MPCA hosted three meetings in late June and early July with stakeholder groups to discuss engagement during the feedlot rule revision process. We plan to report back to the groups to share a process for the rulemaking in September 2024. We received feedback that it will be hard for farmers to focus on both the feedlot permit reissuance process and on the feedlot rules process at the same time. Similarly, our ability to move this rulemaking process forward will be dependent on how the feedlot permit reissuances are proceeding. The same staff are involved in both areas of work. If the feedlot permit process extends beyond the end of August, this may delay the start of the rulemaking process.

Accelerate implementation of the Nitrogen Management Fertilizer Plan. A workplan is currently being developed and initial outreach with partners has begun. MDA also provided funding to hire a Nutrient Management Technician position that is shared at Fillmore, Wabasha, and Winona SWCDs. The Minnesota Ag Water Quality Certification (MAWQCP) program hired an additional certifier to support the southeast region.

Work completed this quarter:

• Community meetings. MDH hosted three in-person community meetings (Stewartville [June 12], Rushford [June 26], and Mazeppa [June 27]) and one virtual community meeting (June 20). The purpose of the community meetings was to share current and planned public health response efforts to address nitrate in southeast Minnesota. The community meetings included a formal presentation and question/answer time sandwiched between a general open house format before and after. About 150 people attended the community meetings. Colleagues from MDA and MPCA also joined to help field questions.  

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Minnesota’s work plan to address nitrate in southeast Minnesota

The agencies have developed a workplan cited in the EPA letter, which includes the following three phases:  

1. Immediate Response (January 2024 – June 2024)  

• Conduct education and outreach encouraging well testing
• Provide limited alternate water for vulnerable populations
• Provide limited well testing for vulnerable populations

2. Public Health Intervention (July 2024 – Ongoing)

• Identify impacted residences
• Conduct education and outreach
• Test private well drinking water
• Provide mitigation
• Provide public record of work

3. Long-Term Nitrate Strategies (Snapshot of key initiatives)

• Taskforce to address nitrate
• Nitrogen Fertilizer Management Plan and Groundwater Protection Rule
• Feedlot permits and rules
• Revising Minnesota Nutrient Reduction Strategy
• Fish kill prevention
• Wastewater nitrogen reduction and karst protection strategies  

We will provide more updates as these activities develop.

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Now is a good time to check your drinking water quality

Nitrate in groundwater is an issue that has been developing in southeastern Minnesota for several decades. There are regulations in place to help protect groundwater, but it will likely take years of work to fully mitigate the issue. Checking your water quality now is a good way to confirm if your water is safe to drink.

If you’d like more information about nitrate in the environment or nitrate and health, please visit the webpage below.

• Nitrate in Drinking Water

If you are on a public water system, your system ensures that drinking water meets the EPA standard

Your public water system regularly tests for nitrate and ensures levels meet the EPA standard. Your public water system will let you know if they detect nitrate in drinking water at a level above the EPA standard. You can find the level of nitrate detected in the system serving where you live by reading the system’s Water Quality Report, also known as a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR). 

Search for your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) online at the link below or contact your public water system to get a paper copy. If you want to find the level of nitrate for a place besides your home, contact the water system serving that location.

• Drinking Water Protection - Consumer Confidence Reports

If you have a private well, test for nitrate every year

If you get your drinking water from a private well, MDH recommends that you test the water you use for drinking and cooking for nitrate every year at an accredited water testing laboratory. We also recommend testing for coliform bacteria every year and testing for arsenic, lead, and manganese at least once. You cannot taste, see, or smell these contaminants in your water; testing is the only way to know the level in your water.

Test for nitrate every year. You should also have your water tested for nitrate if you are planning on becoming pregnant or if infants will be using the water.

You are responsible for keeping your well water safe and testing it as needed. MDH recommends you use an accredited laboratory to test your water. 

If you have not tested for nitrate since 2019 and you have a pregnant person or baby under 1 year in the home, you may be eligible for a free well test if you live in Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha, or Winona county. 

• Complete this form to see if your household may qualify for a free well test kit: Request a Private Well Test Kit.

If you are not eligible for a free well test kit, contact an accredited laboratory to get sample containers and instructions, or ask your county environmental or public health services if they provide well testing services.

• Accredited Labs in Minnesota Accepting Samples from Private Well Owners (PDF)

Accredited labs in southeastern Minnesota that test for nitrate are (alphabetical order):

1. Minnesota Valley Testing Laboratories, Inc. 
   Address: 1126 North Front Street, New Ulm, MN 56073 
   Phone: 507-354-8517
    
2. RMB Environmental Laboratories, Inc 
   Address: 501 Highway 13 East, Burnsville, MN 55337
   Phone: 952-456-8470
   Email: customerservice@rmbel.com
    
3. Southeastern Minnesota Water Analysis Laboratory
   Address: 2100 Campus Drive SE, Suite 100, Rochester, MN 55904 
   Phone: 507-328-7495
   Order a water test kit at: Olmsted County Minnesota Water Analysis Lab
    
4. UC Laboratory
   Address: 129 North Main Street, Janesville, MN 56048 
   Phone: 507-234-5835

If nitrate is detected in your private well at concentrations above 10 mg/L, follow these steps

1. Get your drinking water from a safe alternative source, such as bottled water.
2. Make sure babies under six months old do not drink the well water.
3. Do not try to boil nitrate out of the water. Boiling will make nitrate more concentrated.
4. Have a licensed well contractor inspect your well.
5. Find and get rid of any potential sources of nitrate contamination. Visit the webpages below to help you identify sources to check or to contact a licensed well contractor.

• Protecting Your Well 
• Licensed Well and Boring Contractor Directory 

Home water treatment is also an option. Even with home water treatment, MDH recommends that no babies under six months old drink the water, a safety precaution in the event the water treatment fails. Before treating for nitrate, MDH encourages you to first try to get rid of potential sources of nitrate on your property and get your well inspected and repaired.

• Home Water Treatment Fact Sheet 
• Nitrate in Well Water 

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Commonly asked questions

Can I get a free test for my well water?

Currently, MDH is providing a small number of free well test kits for private well households that meet all the following: 

• Rely on a private well as their drinking water source.
• The private well is in Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha, or Winona counties.
• There is a pregnant person or baby under 1 year of age in the home.
• The private well has NOT been tested for nitrate since 2019. 

To determine if your household is eligible, complete this form: Request a Private Well Test Kit.

We hope to have free well testing available more broadly in the near future. In the meantime, MDH encourages you to work with an accredited lab to get your water tested. 

You can also participate in a well screening clinic hosted by a local agency or group. While screening results are not 100% accurate, they can be a first step knowing if nitrate is in your well water. If nitrate is detected with a screening test, we encourage you to follow up with an accredited lab.

Can I get a treatment system installed for free or a new well paid for? 

MDA is notifying households via mail if they may be eligible for reverse osmosis due to known elevated nitrate in their well water and participation in previous MDA private well testing programs.

If you are a private well household in southeast Minnesota that has elevated nitrate and a pregnant person or baby in the home, you may be eligible for bottled water until a longer-term solution is available. 

• Learn more in the Bottled water available for private well households with a baby or pregnant person section.

Otherwise, at this point, there is not general funding for nitrate treatment, well repair, or new well construction. However, there may be programs available for cost share of treatment systems or well repairs at the local government level. You can check if you may be eligible for any grants or loans for home water treatment, well construction, or repair. Visit the link below for more information.

• Grants and Loans for Home Water Treatment and Well Construction, Repair, and Sealing

As programs become available MDH will do outreach to our local partners and the public. 

As a private well owner, do I have to test and treat my water?

There are no statewide regulations for private well owners to test and treat their water after a well is constructed. All actions are voluntary. However, MDH encourages you to test your drinking water on a regular basis.

• Well Testing, Results, and Options 

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Resources

If your well was constructed after 1974, you may be able to find information about your well through the Minnesota Well Index at the link below.

• Minnesota Well Index (MWI) 

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Contact information

For more information about your water quality, please email health.privatewells@state.mn.us.

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