Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has signed an amendment to a state statute that will give cities more flexibility in the management of their water conservation efforts.
The passage of Chapter 150, Senate File 1567 gives cities the freedom to choose between using water conservation rates to meet the new state requirement, or uniform rates if it can be demonstrated that other water demand reduction efforts are providing conservation results.
City leaders now have until January 1, 2015 to make a decision and abide by the recommended requirements. Supporters say the new law will work for cities that have a conservation rate structure and want to keep it, those that want to change the current rate structure, and those that do not want to adopt a conservation rate structure.