2003 - 05  Wild Water Beneath Our Feet

The porous nature of glacial till in Minnesota has for the last 10,000 years captured, filtered, and stored approximately half of all the rainfall that has fallen on it. These glacial sands, gravels, and peat soils have retained, filtered, and cooled the rainwater. As it gradually seeps through glacial deposits, it is delivered to our streams, marshes, ponds, and lakes in steady dependable volumes helping to create healthy wetland ecosystems. In addition, as water filters through these glacial deposits, it replenishes the Quaternary Aquifers. This process has been going on uninterrupted for centuries. Manmade changes to the landscape are now affecting and interrupting this natural process. Impervious road and parking lot surfaces, buildings, perforated pipes, ditches, diversions, gutters, and culverts have changed the natural flow and quality of water delivered to the Quaternary Aquifers. Glacial aquifers are being dewatered, degraded, and destroyed as sources of clear cool water for our best natural wetlands and streams. In turn, this degrades the wetland ecosystems that support plants, animals, fishes, and the quality and availability of water that we use and consume.

Therefore be it resolved:  the Minnesota Division of the Izaak Walton League of America in convention April 26, 2003, at Owatonna, Minnesota urges the responsible federal and state agencies to revisit the 30 year old Clean Water Act so as to more fully apply its intended protection to springs, groundwater rivers, ephemeral, and surface water. We urge these agencies to identify appropriate infiltration zones and practices to ensure the health of these good rivers beneath our feet. Be it also resolved: We encourage these agencies to work with conservation organizations and interested members of the public to become acquainted with problems affecting ground water sources and quality. In order to understand ground and surface water changes caused by manmade disturbances we urge appropriate tools and technology (thermal readings, secchi disks, satellite mappings etc.) be used to monitor surface and ground waters with a view towards isolating and resolving problems before they develop.