Agenda - Council Work Session - 02/12/2019

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2. Water Supply ISSUE: A clean and reliable source of water is critical to the function of any healthy community. In many cases, communities utilize aquifers as their primary source of water. The City of Ramsey is located in a "recharge zone" for aquifers utilized throughout the Twin Cities Metro region, known as the "Anoka County Sand Plain." The City of Ramsey is a developing community and anticipates significant growth over the next two decades. As a result, additional water supply will be required to meet the demand of future development. In 2007, the City of Ramsey conducted a pilot study to explore the ability to use surface waters, such as the Mississippi River for a municipal water supply as a possible benefit for regional water resources. The Minnesota DNR assisted with this effort in order to identify options for preserving existing, and future, ground water supplies of communities throughout the entire Twin Cities Metro region. As a result, the City of Ramsey identified an option of using a surface water treatment plant sometime in the future, which would draw from the Mississippi River, but only it were part of a regional solution. Under a surface water option, the City would retain its ground water supply system as a back-up to a surface water supply. The estimated cost of the proposed surface water treatment plant in Ramsey was significant, at $36.5 million. Costs for retaining the ground water supply system will be minimal compared to the treatment facility costs. For this reason, significant funding from outside the City would be required. Clearly, utilization of water resources is not solely a local issue, as aquifers and "recharging zones" span across the entire Twin Cities metro region. The need for the City of Ramsey to switch from a ground water system to a surface water system is not a result of development in the City of Ramsey alone; it is the result of demand across the entire Twin Cities metro region. The City is currently participating in a multi -city feasibility study of a shared surface water treatment plant, and is opposed to any solution that requires expenditures of the City of Ramsey to be greater than the anticipated groundwater system. RECOMMENDATION: The City of Ramsey supports continued regional analysis and planning efforts to utilize ground and surface water throughout the Twin Cities as a whole, rather than community -by - community. The City of Ramsey opposes actions limiting the ability of Ramsey to develop in order to sustain, or allow new development, in other Twin Cities communities affected by the Anoka County Sand Plain "recharge zone." The City of Ramsey supports regional solutions to address regional ground water supply concerns; specifically including, regional equitable funding sources, is opposed to any solution that requires expenditures of the City of Ramsey to be greater than the anticipated groundwater system. 2018 City of Ramsey Legislative Platform