DNR to Host Cold Spring Meeting on Protected Trout Stream

COLD SPRING -- Cold Spring is moving forward with solving their water problems.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is hosting a public meeting at Cold Spring City Hall Wednesday from 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. to talk about their groundwater project. DNR staff will have a short presentation on the project and then answer questions from the community.

The town has been exploring ways to bring in more water for the past three years but the DNR won't let crews drill within a certain distance of a protected trout stream that runs through Cold Spring.

Last year, the legislature told the DNR to develop a groundwater model for the Cold Spring area. The model is designed to help show the effects of current and future pumping on Cold Spring Creek. The DNR will then use this information to work with the city on how to manage the groundwater use in the area.

In September, the Cold Spring Council voted to drill a new well next to an existing one on its current site.

City Administrator Brigid Murphy says the city still has to work with the Department of Health to test the water coming from the new well and work with the DNR on the trout stream issue before the well can be fully operational.