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1 <br />MINNESOTA STATUTES 2020 103G.291 <br />103G.291 PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY PLANS; APPROPRIATION DURING DEFICIENCY. <br />Subdivision 1. Declaration and conservation. (a) If the governor determines and declares by executive <br />order that there is a critical water deficiency, public water supply authorities appropriating water must adopt <br />and enforce water conservation restrictions within their jurisdiction that are consistent with rules adopted <br />by the commissioner. <br />(b) The restrictions must limit lawn sprinkling, vehicle washing, golf course and park irrigation, and <br />other nonessential uses, and have appropriate penalties for failure to comply with the restrictions. <br />Subd. 2. Modifying permit for noncompliance. Disregard of critical water deficiency orders, even <br />though total appropriation remains less than that permitted, is adequate grounds for immediate modification <br />of a public water supply authority's water -use permit. <br />Subd. 3. Water supply plans; demand reduction. (a) Every public water supplier serving more than <br />1,000 people must submit a water supply plan to the commissioner for approval by January 1, 1996. In <br />accordance with guidelines developed by the commissioner, the plan must address projected demands, <br />adequacy of the water supply system and planned improvements, existing and future water sources, natural <br />resource impacts or limitations, emergency preparedness, water conservation, supply and demand reduction <br />measures, and allocation priorities that are consistent with section 103G.261. Public water suppliers must <br />update their plan and, upon notification, submit it to the commissioner for approval every ten years. <br />(b) The water supply plan in paragraph (a) is required for all communities in the metropolitan area, as <br />defined in section 473.121, with a municipal water supply system and is a required element of the local <br />comprehensive plan required under section 473.859. <br />(c) Public water suppliers serving more than 1,000 people must encourage water conservation by <br />employing water use demand reduction measures, as defined in subdivision 4, paragraph (a), before requesting <br />approval from the commissioner of health under section 144.3 83, paragraph (a), to construct a public water <br />supply well or requesting an increase in the authorized volume of appropriation. The commissioner of natural <br />resources and the water supplier shall use a collaborative process to achieve demand reduction measures as <br />a part of a water supply plan review process. <br />(d) Public water suppliers serving more than 1,000 people must submit records that indicate the number <br />of connections and amount of use by customer category and volume of water unaccounted for with the <br />annual report of water use required under section 103G.281, subdivision 3. <br />(e) For the purposes of this section, "public water supplier" means an entity that owns, manages, or <br />operates a public water supply, as defined in section 144.3 82, subdivision 4. <br />Subd. 4. Demand reduction measures. (a) For the purposes of this section, "demand reduction measures" <br />means measures that reduce water demand, water losses, peak water demands, and nonessential water uses. <br />Demand reduction measures must include a conservation rate structure, or a uniform rate structure with a <br />conservation program that achieves demand reduction. A "conservation rate structure" means a rate structure <br />that encourages conservation and may include increasing block rates, seasonal rates, time of use rates, <br />individualized goal rates, or excess use rates. If a conservation rate is applied to multifamily dwellings, the <br />rate structure must consider each residential unit as an individual user. <br />Official Publication of the State of Minnesota <br />Revisor of Statutes <br />