Water Reuse
Clean Water Fund

Water reuse is an increasingly important part of managing Minnesota’s water resources as demands on our water supplies continue to grow due to population increases, urbanization, climate change, increased irrigation and industry growth. 

Water reuse is happening across Minnesota. The main reason cited for many water reuse projects is to conserve water, but implementers also say saving money and meeting environmental regulations are reasons for water reuse. Despite increasing interest in water reuse, there is no comprehensive statewide guidance or policy on water reuse to ensure that projects are safe and sustainable. However, there have been multiple projects to help define what type of guidance or policy would be appropriate and helpful in Minnesota.

Get email updates for progress on these projects, resulting recommendations, ways to get involved, and other activities in the water reuse community.

Developing a clear process for implementing stormwater capture and use in Minnesota 

Leveraging Clean Water Funds, Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) contracted with Emmons & Olivier Resources, Inc. (EOR) to facilitate meetings with state agencies and interested parties (called the Engagement Core) to identify what is needed for consistent guidelines to streamline stormwater capture use design, implementation, and maintenance. The Engagement Core was a group of representatives from local governments, designers, academia, and state agency staff, who have an interest in promoting safe stormwater capture and use. The project resulted in the following recommendations for next steps:

• Determine responsible parties for stormwater capture and use in Minnesota by reviewing and confirming the identified potential roles named in the report.
• Develop a menu of tools outlining best practices for stormwater capture and reuse that include design guidelines, permitting, processes, risk management decision-making, institutional control options, treatment strategies, cost estimation, funding mechanisms, third-party agreements, and operation and maintenance manuals.
• Continue bringing the Engagement Core together: Revisit and update the membership. Add a smaller technical subgroup to the core to address technical details.

• Add to the Minnesota Stormwater Manual so that it can be a collaboration hub and place to share information. Additions could include technical guidance, resources, current information, best practices, and guidance on stormwater capture and use.

• Engage community perspectives to understand their perspectives on acceptable water quality standards and develop robust communication strategies that convey the safety and benefits of recycled stormwater while addressing community concerns and expectations.
• Continue investigating and researching stormwater capture and use methods, applications, and risks. Specific needs are named in the report (page 25). 

State agencies together with the Metropolitan Council are determining the best way to carry these recommendations forward.

Report: Update on developing a clear process for implementing stormwater capture and use in Minnesota (PDF)

MDH White Paper: A public health perspective on stormwater reuse

MDH’s mission, “to protect, maintain and improve the health of all Minnesotans”, is to ensure that the health of the public is protected. A White Paper outlining the public health perspective is valuable to satisfy the MDH mission and to understand the implications of water reuse: What is in stormwater that could be harmful to people? How likely are people to get sick from stormwater reuse? Who could be affected? Is there a way to reduce the hazard or the exposure of reused water to prevent potential illness or injury?

Report: The White Paper, Reuse of Stormwater and Rainwater in Minnesota: A Public Health Perspective (PDF), is an evaluation of the safety of Minnesota stormwater reuse systems.

Information Sheet on Report: For a synopsis of the report, see the Information Sheet Reuse of Stormwater and Rainwater in Minnesota (PDF).

Interagency report on water reuse

An interagency workgroup formed in 2015 in response to interest in water reuse, a legislative directive and funding support. State agencies, Metropolitan Council, the University of Minnesota (the Workgroup) and stakeholders in the water reuse community worked together to develop a report that serves as a foundation for advancing safe and sustainable reuse in Minnesota. The Workgroup met monthly from January 2016 through August 2017 and also convened four meetings with stakeholders during this time. 

Report: The Advancing Safe and Sustainable Water Reuse in Minnesota 2018 Interagency Report on Water Reuse (PDF) is the product of the Workgroup efforts. The report is intended to serve as a foundation to move safe and sustainable reuse forward in Minnesota. 

Information Sheet on Report: For a synopsis of the Workgroup effort and report, see the Information Sheet Advancing Safe and Sustainable Water Reuse in Minnesota (PDF).

Meeting Notes: Email health.legacy@state.mn.us to request notes from the interagency and stakeholder meetings.

Recommendations for water reuse in Minnesota

The Workgroup developed Minnesota-specific recommendations in the report:

1. Create an expanded workgroup with practitioners, advisors and stakeholders to continue development of standards and programs.
2. Prioritize research needs and integrate ongoing research to address questions about reuse.
3. Define roles and responsibilities to oversee and monitor water reuse.
4. Establish an information and collaboration hub on the web to share information and resources.
5. Develop a risk-based management system to determine if regulation or guidance is needed.
6. Develop water quality criteria for a variety of reuse systems based on the log reduction target approach for pathogens to manage human health risks.
7. Resolve unique issues related to graywater reuse to determine the feasibility of expanding graywater reuse.
8. Provide education and training to support water reuse.

For more information, please contact MDH at health.water.reuse.mn@state.mn.us.