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Graphic: A future of water shortages?

• by: Mark Boswell and Raymond Grumney
• Updated: February 23, 2013 - 10:51 PM

At current rates of use the Prairie du Chien-Jordan aquifer, a major source of drinking water for the Twin Cities area, could be partly depleted in some places by the year 2030. Areas shown in red would face 50 percent depletion, the level at which state regulators would impose limits on water use by homeowners and cities. The Metropolitan Council has developed three scenarios of “groundwater drawdown’’ showing how local aquifers would be depleted under various projections of water use.