EC 2008 02 12
Chanhassen Environmental Commission (EC)
Regular Meeting
February 12, 2008
Members Present:
Jim Sommers, Ron Olsen, Bill Fouks, Rose Kircher, Dennis Hansen
Members Absent:
Shirley McGee, Lee Scholder
Staff Present:
Jill Sinclair, Environmental Resources Specialist, Krista Spreiter, Natural
Resources Technician, Paul Oehme, City Engineer
Minutes:
January minutes were approved.
Staff presentation, Paul Oehme, City Engineer:
Paul talked about losing 2 wells last summer,
why the watering ban was instituted and what the city is doing to alleviate the problem. When
the two wells were lost the city couldn’t meet the demand, especially because it happened in
summer. Wells 5 and 6 were 20+ years old and 2 of the best producing wells in the city. They
were the first on in the morning and the last off at night. It’s hard, he said, to make up the loss
with other existing wells. Well 6 went dry very quickly. The geological engineer looked at the
system and wrote a report (which is posted on the city website). Since this summer the city has
been looking for other opportunities since 5 and 6 are unreliable at this point. The city has
decided to drill 2 new wells. Paul showed illustrations of hydrology in the Chanhassen areas.
The wells won’t be abandoned just yet, but there’s been very little recharge. The study found
that recharge for those wells was coming from the Jordan aquifer, not from above. The city
couldn’t have modeled the failure, we only found out because of the high demand last summer.
Paul said that 75-80% of cities in the metro area are using the Jordan aquifer. It’s getting
stressed now. The Met Council is looking into long term effects of this demand. After this
spring all wells but 1 will be relying on the Jordan aquifer. The single well not coming from the
Jordan is from the glacial drift layer. The recharge isn’t high enough to replace the demand. The
commission looked at the usage map from the third quarter in 2007. It showed the highest users.
Paul said that the typical family of 4 usually uses 25,000 gallons/month.
Jill will update the commission in subsequent months on the status of the PCA grant and what
education promotions that the commission can assist with.
2008 Arbor Day poster contest:
The commission selected the Arbor Day poster contest
winner: Monica Paul, St. Hubert’s School.
Arbor Day Planning: The commission suggested having a water conservation display at the
event and including a large map of last summer’s water usage.
General Discussion:
?
The commission will begin a paperless packet next month. All packets will be emailed to
the commissioners and onscreen at the meetings.
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The commission will try meeting in the Fountain conference Room starting in March.
?
Bill will continue as the liaison to the newspaper. He may do more articles than just
holiday recycling and Earth Day pieces. One idea was to interview Paul for an article on
city water use.
Meeting adjourned at approximately 8:30 PM.
Minutes Prepared by Jill Sinclair
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