During a drought, more reliance is placed on irrigation, increasing the chance to go over the permitted water allocation. Previously, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources had a tiered system for penalties, ranging from $1,000 to $25,000. Irrigators of Minnesota President Jake Wildman says new stricter penalties are now in place. “The new language is a $40,000 fine per violation so lets say we have five wells and four of them we go over the allocation because of the drought. Would that turn into a $160,000 fine? There was also some differnet penalties and criminal penalties within that language of the new statutes.” An inconsistent timeline for securing new water permits is also a concern. Wildman, who is based at Glenwood, said he is nervous about the future of the irrigation business in Minnesota due to the uncertainty.
