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1.0 Introduction <br />1.1 Scope and Purpose <br />This report was prepazed for Elk River Municipal Utilities and summarizes a preliminary evaluation <br />of water supplies and alternatives for the Elk River area. The purpose of this evaluation is to provide <br />Elk River Municipal Utilities with an overview of the sources of water, Che current use of these <br />sources, and projections on how these sources and uses may change in the future. This evaluation is <br />based on existing data and reports - no new data were collected. This evaluation is not intended to be <br />exhaustive or definitive. The intent of this evaluation is to provide an indication of the available <br />water alternatives, the uncertainties associated with these alternatives, and a prognostication on how <br />future conditions and growth may affect these alternatives. <br />Elk River is not in the seven county metropolitan area of the Twin Cities and is not in the jurisdiction <br />of the Metropolitan Council, who is undertaking substantive water-supply planning activities. <br />However, from awater-supply perspective, Elk River is definitely influencing (and being influenced <br />by) water-supply pressures within the seven-county-metropolitan area - from a population <br />perspective and from asurface-water and groundwater perspective. We have attempted to place Elk <br />River in the context of the regional water-supply conditions of the Twin Cities metropolitan area <br />because future challenges and future solutions will likely be regional in nature. <br />1.2 Report Organization <br />This report is organized according to the two main sources of water: groundwater and surface water. <br />These two sources are, in fact, closely related, but the regulatory framework for their utilization is <br />different. Sections are included that discuss the availability and occurrence of these two water <br />sources. An additional section is included that discusses different approaches for using these <br />resources and the regulatory, economiq and societal challenges that are associated with the different <br />alternatives. <br />We have attempted to keep the amount of technical "jargon" as limited as possible in this report. We <br />feel that it is important that the contents of this report be as instructive and useful as possible. We <br />have attempted to provide some definitions of some of the more important concepts within the body <br />of [his text. <br />P:\Mpla\23 MN\71\2391105 Watec Supply Alternative St^dy\FinalDeliverables\Altematives_Report_final.doc <br />