For the first time in five years, campers and visitors at the Blue Mounds State Park can drink and bathe in the park’s tap water.
“We’re open for showers,” said Blue Mounds State Park manager Chris Ingebretsen Friday. “Our samples came back clean yesterday, so we’re ready to go.”
For loyal campers like Luverne’s Becky Sehr and her family, the news was welcome.
“I'm excited to hear that water has been restored to the park, but we never let the lack of water stop us from camping there because we love the Blue Mounds so much,” Sehr said.
“It was a hardship for those traveling from a distance, especially travelers pulling off I-90 for the night.”
Ingebretsen said the park office has been connected through new rural water pipes since last summer, but the campground spigots, faucets and showers couldn’t be used until the water flushed through the full pipeline system in the park.
“We were worried that some of them were vacant for five years, but they all function well,” Ingebretsen said.
The other concern was that bacteria could have been lurking in the dormant pipes.
Water service was first disrupted at Blue Mounds State Park in 2014 when E.coli bacteria was discovered in the park’s well. A second well was dug that year, but it also contained E.coli.
After considering other options for park water, the DNR ultimately negotiated a connection with Rock County Rural Water, but planning and construction took time.
“This was a fairly complex project,” Ingebretsen said.
“The Sioux quartzite rock that underlies the park makes Blue Mounds unique and special, but it’s also the very thing that complicated the project since contractors needed to drill and blast through so much bedrock to bring in underground water lines.”
Meanwhile, park visitors and campers were offered potable drinking water at the park office, and campers who wanted a shower drove to the Luverne Area Aquatics and Fitness facility where the city agreed to offer the services to park guests.
“We can’t thank the city of Luverne enough for allowing our campers to shower in their facility for the past five years,” Ingebretsen said. “That was really an incredible gesture.”
The 3.5-mile water connection enters the park from the south, cuts through the park pasture and turns toward the park office at an elbow located 300 feet east of the bison corral.
Henning Construction submitted the low bid for the work at $450,481.
After a summer of working to connect water service to the park, the connection was finally completed in December, and system testing on the project’s first segment concluded in mid-February.
Testing on water lines to the campground concluded late last week, giving the all-clear for water service for summer visitors and campers.
“We’re excited to have water service restored,” Ingebretsen said. “We appreciate the patience shown by our visitors, and we look forward to welcoming them for the 2019 camping season.”
Park officials say the water issue has affected attendance at the Blue Mounds and they’re hoping numbers return to normal levels.
According to park data, 91,000 people visited the Blue Mounds in 2013.
That number dropped to 57,000 visitors in 2014, the year E.coli showed up in drinking water and flooding destroyed the dam and drained the lake.
In the past couple of years, visitor numbers have returned somewhat, but never to the level before water contamination.
“It's a great time to promote what a great park we have right in our back yard and to get the occupancy rate back to where it was five years ago,” Sehr said about the park’s new water connection.
Ingebretsen said Memorial Day camping reservations at Blue Mounds are nearly full, but a few spots remain. See mndnr.gov for reservations.
A vehicle permit is required to enter all Minnesota state parks, which costs $7 per day or $35 per year. See mndnr.gov/bluemounds.
Final 1.5 miles in campground left to go
Funding from the current bonding bill provides $1 million to connect the park to Rock County Rural Water and also replace the park’s 40-year-old underground pipes.
Rural Water has taken the lead on the engineering and construction to connect the park to its system.
The state will handle the 1.5 miles of infrastructure improvements within the park boundaries, but that work won’t start until next summer.
Meanwhile, the old pipes will be used for clean water until they can be replaced — starting after Labor Day.
“We’ll be closing the campground down right after Labor Day for construction, which should be completed by the end of October,” Ingebretsen said.
The cart-in campground, group campground and picnic area will also be affected by the closure, but those areas will be closed temporarily, and not all at one time.
The park office can be reached at 507-283-6051.