Minnesota Administrative Rules

7060.0400 USES OF UNDERGROUND WATERS.

The waters of the state are classified according to their highest priority use, which for underground waters of suitable natural quality is their use now or in the future as a source of drinking, culinary, or food processing water. Suitability is to be construed as meaning that the waters in their natural state can be used for such purposes after such purification or treatment processes as may be prescribed by the Minnesota Department of Health or the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. This classification is established to protect the underground waters as potable water supplies by preventing and abating pollution. In making this classification, the agency recognizes that the underground waters of the state are contained in a series of related and often interconnected aquifers, such that if sewage, industrial waste, other waste, or other pollutants enter the underground water system, they may spread both vertically and horizontally. Thus, all underground waters are best classified for use as potable water supply in order to preserve high quality waters by minimizing spreading of pollutants, by prohibiting further discharges of wastes thereto, and to maximize the possibility of rehabilitating degraded waters for their priority use.

Statutory Authority:

MS s 115.03; 115.44

Published Electronically:

October 2, 2007