City of Perham officials informally began wellhead protection efforts in the 1990s.
Those efforts are now beginning to bear fruit as testing indicates that nitrate levels in drinking water sources for the city have leveled off, instead of increasing, and it's hopeful those levels could soon see a decline.
At a recent meeting held at Perham City Hall to discuss efforts to reduce pollution to the city's drinking water and to protect city wellhead areas, officials were told that those "efforts are making a difference."
"We're starting to see success, but that's the result of a real group effort and the efforts of a lot of people," said Dave Neiman, Source Water Protection Specialist with the Minnesota Rural Water Association.
Wellhead protection is a way to prevent drinking water from becoming polluted by managing possible sources of contamination in the area, which supplies water to public wells.
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Groundwater that supplies drinking water for the city of Perham generally moves from the northwest towards the city so wellhead protection efforts have focused mainly west and northwest of the city.
Neiman said the city and other interested parties developed a plan through broad community support to improve the quality of area groundwater and to reduce the risks of pollution.
"There's been many people who have stepped up to the table and have helped to make a difference in the local groundwater," said Neiman. "Those parties include the local utilities, schools, agriculture, business, citizens, the University of Minnesota Extension, the DNR and the city as well as many others."
According, to Neiman, more than one set of individuals has to take part in the program in order for real progress to happen.
Neiman said those efforts include making maps of the areas surrounding the city's wells and then plotting out the hot spots where nitrates and other pollutants could find their way into the area's groundwater.
"The farmers undertook farming with best management practices which includes rotating the type of crops they grow in areas that could impact local ground water," said Neiman.
The less use of nitrates and rotating of crops is one way of reducing or cutting the levels of nitrates and other chemicals that find their way into the groundwater.
Neiman said officials had set a goal of less than five-parts per billion of nitrates in ground water.
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"We're not quite at that level yet, but we hope we are at the point now where we could hopefully see a decline."
Neiman said positive effects from changes made in the 1990s and the early 2000's can happen overnight.
"It takes time to see results of what has been done," said Neiman. "We're trying to protect and prevent the negative impact before it happens instead of treating the water or the problem after it occurs."
Part of the effort has been an attempt by officials and others involved in the program to make citizens more aware of the connection between land use and water quality.
Officials were told that more than $3.5 million has been invested in the last six years to protect area groundwater and wellhead areas.
Part of the effort has included informing and educating adults about wellhead and groundwater protection, but also getting students and youth more involved so they have a personal investment in cleaning up area groundwater and protecting the groundwater from further contamination or pollution.
