Speaker: Dr. Deborah Swackhamer, Professor and Charles M. Denny, Jr., Chair of Science, Technology, and Public Policy-Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs and Co-Director, Water Resources Center at University of Minnesota.

According to the Water Resource Management website: “In fall of 2008, Minnesotans passed The Clean Water, Land and Legacy Act, an amendment to the state’s constitution that created a three-eighths of a percent sales tax to fund, among other things, the protection and preservation of Minnesota’s freshwater. The amendment has the potential to raise more than $275 million a year – of which roughly one third—about $85 million a year—will go toward protecting and preserving Minnesota’s surface and ground water.

In spring 2009, the legislature took the first step in investing that money, appropriating $750,000 to the University of Minnesota’s Water Resources Center to create a comprehensive, 25-year framework for the sustainable management of Minnesota’s water resources. The framework is intended to serve as a roadmap—with clear signposts on how and when to spend the money and on what initiatives—based on scientific research, expert opinion, and input from citizens around the state.

Contact Gwen Myers for more information.