DNR OKs rural water for park .. if state funds it

Connecting to Rock County Rural Water is the best solution for safe drinking water at Blue Mounds State Park, but timing for the project hinges on state funding.
Kathy Dummer, DNR regional manager of parks and trails based in New Ulm, relayed the decision in a Nov. 3 letter to the Rock County administrator.
“While there are many actions needed to make the project move forward, the biggest challenge is funding,” she wrote.
“The project will require significant capital investment by the state; however, without a bonding bill, funding is unavailable.”
Since 2014 the park’s drinking water system has tested positive for fecal coliform.
Attempts to clean the system and drilling a new 330-foot well didn’t eliminate E. coli from the system. Dummer confirmed the DNR’s new $72,502 well was found contaminated.
The state park has remained open to visitors and campers since the contamination was found. Campers had to bring their own potable water.
Earlier this spring the DNR financed an $8,732 feasibility study with DGR Engineering out of Rock Rapids, Iowa. DGR recently engineered the local system’s $5 million expansion and upgrade project that was completed last year.
The DGR study located three possible routes to connect existing rural water lines to the maintenance shop near the park’s main entrance.
Costs for the connection ranged from $643,000 to more than $2 million.
The engineers recommended the less expensive route, which extends for three miles and connects to the rural water system three miles south and west of the park entrance.
Construction would take 10 to 12 weeks, depending on the severity of the rock formations.
Dummer said the DNR explored constructing an on-site water treatment system to treat the park’s well water. The treatment plant would cost an amount similar to the rural water connection.
“Based on the feasibility study and evaluation of both options’ long-term operating and maintenance costs, DNR has determined that connecting to the Rock County Rural Water system is the preferred option for providing potable water to the Blue Mounds State Park,” Dummer concluded.
The DNR will continue to work with the Minnesota Department of Health in determining water use, if any, for the park’s well water.