With at least a dozen Minnesota cities considering hyperscale data center proposals, Freshwater has emerged as a leading voice in balancing economic development with long-term water sustainability.

We presented 12 times this past year concerning data centers and high-volume water users, as the topic has been top-of-mind for a wide range of organizations including the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, the Joyce Foundation, Minnesota Women’s Press, Minnesota Watersheds conference, and the American Public Works Association Minnesota chapter.

The Freshwater policy team also engaged in this issue during the 2025 Minnesota state legislative session, which yielded a data center regulatory bill that creates a formal DNR preapplication process for data centers planning to use over 100 million gallons of water annually.

Several factors make Minnesota an appealing location for developers of water intensive industries, including a strong fiber infrastructure, available water supply, a skilled IT workforce, and specific sales tax exemptions. Long-term planning and coordination across agencies and local governments is critical to siting water-intensive projects in the right locations, while transparency throughout the planning process is needed for local communities to engage in the decision-making process.

Freshwater kicked off a 3-year project in partnership with the Mayo Clinic and local partners to test private drinking water wells for arsenic in southern Minnesota (Rice, Steele, Freeborn, Waseca, Faribault, Blue Earth, Watonwan, and Martin counties).

Supported by the LCCMR and the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, the Rural Health and Drinking Water project will offer free arsenic testing kits available online through Simple Lab to those living within the project area.

Arsenic is an element found in rocks and soil across Minnesota. When dissolved into groundwater, arsenic can impact the safety of drinking water and can increase the risk of cancer and other health concerns such as cardiovascular and respiratory disease, reduced intelligence in children, and skin problems. A key objective is to educate both private well users and the Mayo Clinic healthcare providers who frequently diagnose and treat preventable diseases linked to chronic arsenic exposure.

Freshwater’s renowned Minnesota Water Stewards program relaunched in a new statewide online format with over 80 participants set to embark on community leadership training in the coming year, including six enrolled in a new curriculum focused on private wells.

Water Stewards learn about the science of water, how water is governed, tools for community engagement, and ways to manage land for water quality. They then complete water improvement projects and serve as leaders and connectors in their communities.

More than 500 Stewards were certified during the first 11 years of the program. This coming year the program is completely free to participants and is available across all of Minnesota. The online course and workshops begin in January and run through May 2026.

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Freshwater collaborated with artists Mark Granlund and Drevis Hager on 2°C, an art exhibit and performance event, at Hamilton Studio in Minneapolis. Themed around climate change, the exhibit’s original oil paintings used powerful metaphor, provocative imagery and dark humor to confront humanity's complex relationship with our fragile planet.

The exhibit ran for 10 days in early August, culminating in a sold-out music and spoken word performance featuring Prudence Johnson, Dean Magraw, Kyle Tran Mhyre and Tom Cassidy. Proceeds from art sales, donations and the event went to support Freshwater's work for water.

In November, engineers, researchers, and practitioners gathered for a site visit in New Brighton to explore an iron-enhanced sand filter system.

Hosted by Rice Creek Watershed District, attendees got an in-depth look at the design and operations of a stormwater treatment system designed to remove dissolved phosphorus from stormwater.

This learning is part of a larger series of iron-enhanced sand filter learning opportunities led by Freshwater in partnership with the University of Minnesota’s Water Resources Center and Rice Creek Watershed District.

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Freshwater celebrated 50 years of the Minnesota Weatherguide Environment Calendar and Almanac in October at CLA Connect in Eagan, a warm gathering of Weatherguide contributors and fans.

KARE 11 Chief Meteorologist Belinda Jensen hosted a fun and interactive program featuring a video to pay homage to Jim Gilbert, who has been the Weatherguide's phenology consultant since the inception, and a panel discussion featuring MPR Chief Meterologist Paul Huttner, Minnesota DNR Assistant State Climatologist Pete Boulay, and Jeffers Foundation Director of Education David Grack. The event continued with lunch, providing opportunities for networking and an immersive walkthrough of the 50 Years of the Weatherguide display in a separate space.

First published in 1977, the calendar began as a tool for sharing science and weather information. Over the years, it has evolved into a vibrant celebration of Minnesota’s outdoors, featuring stunning photography, phenology, astronomy, weather, and Ojibwe cultural information. Today, the Weatherguide serves as an outstanding educational resource for exploring Minnesota’s natural world and is enjoyed by both nature enthusiasts and classrooms alike.

In April, Freshwater published a new report, Towards Collaborative and Equitable Groundwater Governance in EPA Region 5, concluding our second phase of work on groundwater governance funded by The Joyce Foundation.

The report includes a series of topics that Freshwater explored during the 18-month project such as treaties, regional and local groundwater governance, and communicating groundwater science.

At every level, there is a need for cohesive regional water governance, including clarity on which jurisdictions share groundwater and how to collaborate equitably. This report lays out best practices and existing barriers in hopes of developing regional groundwater governance systems based on common understanding that fosters inclusive prosperity, ecological health, and repairs past harm, while being resilient to climate and population stresses over the next generation.

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With support from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund and the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment, Freshwater partnered with faculty at UMN and Bemidji State University to support teachers as they work towards integrating perspectives from Minnesota's Tribal communities into their science teaching.

The program offers culturally responsive opportunities for teachers to bridge the preparation gap as they address the new Minnesota State Science standards with specific consideration of both Indigenous and Western perspectives. It also offers supported delivery of classroom curriculum that exposes middle- and high-school students to water-based job opportunities and careers, particularly focusing on broadening representation of Indigenous youth pursuing natural resource management careers.

Currently, there are three unique offerings for teachers: a professional learning community, a guided book club, and experiential workshops.

The professional learning community is structured as a series of online learning opportunities that feature a guest speaker and time to work with colleagues on curriculum development. The book club explores Kinship: Belonging in a World of Relations, a series that delves into our deep interconnections with the living world. Finally, the experiential workshops are scheduled throughout the year to immerse teachers in seasonally relevant teachings and practices.

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