BISMARCK – Andrea Travnicek, ND Department of Water Resources (DWR) Director, provided a State of Water in North Dakota presentation today at the 60th Annual Joint North Dakota Water Convention and Irrigation Workshop. During her speech, she announced DWR’s new “Know Your Aquifer” educational campaign. The campaign is free to sign up for and will run from January through June 2024.
The Know Your Aquifer campaign will consist of monthly emails over the next six months that will offer important information on North Dakota’s aquifers and ground water resources. Topics will include what an aquifer is, how they differ by type and region, ground water use permitting, how aquifers are studied and monitored, and how they are used. Emails will contain learning aids such as graphics, photos, videos and other resources.
“The purpose of the campaign is to help North Dakotans better understand concepts related to aquifers and the management and use of ground water resources,“ Travnicek said. “Aquifers are one of North Dakota’s most important resources, so we’re excited to highlight them through the campaign to help people better understand the role of aquifers in our daily lives.”
At the end of the campaign, subscribers will receive a certificate of achievement. To sign up for the Know Your Aquifer campaign, visit https://www.dwr.nd.gov/info_edu/know_your_water_resources/.
Another initiative introduced by Travnicek is the newly launched Water Permit Status and Construction Permit Status online portal. The purpose of this new tool is to allow permit applicants to look up the permits for which they have applied. Users can see their permit priority status in relation to other permits, and better understand where their permit resides in the overall review and approval process. The permit status website will create greater public transparency to the DWR water appropriation and construction permitting processes. The permit status portal can be accessed at: https://www.dwr.nd.gov/info_edu/map_data_resources/status/index.html.
During the State of Water in North Dakota presentation, Travnicek also discussed DWR’s budget, progress on state-owned projects like Northwest Area Water Supply and Southwest Pipeline Project, ongoing water resource management efforts and other ongoing DWR initiatives. For additional information, please visit www.dwr.nd.gov.