The Fridley City Council held a Public Information Meeting (Monday, January 28, 2019) where the updated Part 2 of the Fridley Wellhead Protection Plan was presented for public review and discussion.

The City of Fridley is amending and updating its ten-year Wellhead Protection Plan to protect city drinking water supply wells. The City has completed Part 2 (of two parts) of the Wellhead Protection Plan that includes information pertaining to:

1. The inventory of potential contaminants of concern within the Drinking Water Supply Management Area (DWSMA);
2. The data that was considered in this portion of the plan;
3. Issues, problems and concerns within the DWSMA;
4. Goals, objectives and action strategies to address issues of concern;
5. A Plan evaluation strategy; and
6. A contingency strategy in the event of water system disruption.

A copy of the draft Part 2 Plan is available to be viewed at City Hall. The hearing permitted the public to ask questions and comment on the draft Part 2 Plan before being accepted by the Council.

For more information contact Jim Kosluchar, Fridley Public Works Director/City Engineer at 763-572-3550.

What is wellhead protection? Wellhead protection is a way to prevent drinking water from becoming contaminated by managing potential sources of pollution in the area which supplies water to the City’s wells. Much can be done to prevent pollution, such as the wise use of land and chemicals. Public health is protected and the expense of treating polluted water or drilling a new well is avoided.

What is a wellhead protection area? A wellhead protection area is a zone around a public water supply well managed to keep pollutants from rapidly reaching the community’s water supply.  The area that is managed uses easily identifiable landmarks as boundaries (e.g. streets, property lines, ditches) called the Drinking Water Supply Management Area (DWSMA).  The wellhead protection area is based on the minimum time (ten years) for a pollutant to reach the well.

Who’s Impacted?
A wellhead protection area includes hundreds to thousands of properties. Residents and businesses within a wellhead protection area are asked to cooperate with your water supplier to effectively protect our water supply without establishing additional ordinances or regulatory programs.