Drought Strains Minnesota's Water Resources Drought conditions
are straining Minnesota's water resources, and state officials
are urging everyone to adopt water conservation measures. The
Department of Natural Resources is asking agricultural,
commercial and industrial water users to stop outdoor irrigation
and to take conservation measures now. DNR Commissioner Tom
Landwehr says that at a time when per-capita water consumption
is decreasing nationwide, Minnesota's water use per resident is
actually increasing. Since parts of the state are in their
second year of drought, he says it's time to take water
conservation more seriously. Nearly one-half of Minnesota is in
severe drought or worse, rivaling the extreme drought of the
late 1980s. Large areas of Minnesota have missed the equivalent
of two summertime month's worth of rain. Click here for
information from the DNR on water conservation. Click here for
drought information from the DNR. (Copyright 2012 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This materia