Registration for the AIPG MN Section's Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025, technical talk is now open online!

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Multiple data centers and other large groundwater users proposed for Minnesota

Presented by Brent Beste, MN DNR & Valerie Neppl, Dakota County Groundwater Protection Supervisor

Presentation Overview

Minnesota has seen an increase in potential hyperscale data centers since early 2024. Since this time, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has been working to understand how much water a data center may need due to the unique features and cooling demands of these facilities. DNR has developed a process for the largest facilities based on legislation passed in June 2025 focused on data centers that are likely to use more than 100 Million Gallons of Water per Year. This talk will focus on factors DNR looks at when trying to understand an individual sites water use, what we are learning about data center water use and how we are reviewing large scale data centers in Minnesota.

Approximately 90 percent of residents of Dakota County rely on groundwater as their primary drinking water source and the county’s population is projected to increase 11 percent by 2040. Dakota County’s 2020-2030 Groundwater Plan (Plan) was designed to maintain an adequate supply of high-quality groundwater to meet human needs and sustain groundwater-dependent ecosystems. The county has delegated land use authority to local units of government. Therefore, water-use decisions are made at the municipal level with oversight from the DNR. The Plan has several proposed strategies to address groundwater quantity concerns to help ensure that large groundwater appropriation requests are sustainable and limit groundwater exports. 

The county anticipated increased groundwater usage but did not foresee the surge of large water users proposed for Dakota County and nearby. There are ten proposed data centers, one proposed mining operation with dewatering, and a bottled water company under development in the area (Scott County). Many industries or their developers have shown to be contacting cities directly requesting connections to municipal water systems instead of pursuing a separate DNR permitting process for high-capacity wells. If all or most of these industries were to move forward, it could increase estimated groundwater usage by over seven billion gallons per year according to publicly available documents.

Biography

Valerie Neppl, Valerie has a master’s degree and professional engineering license in environmental engineering and has worked with government agencies for over 20 years managing environmental health and protection projects. She has been with Dakota County since 2018 as the Groundwater Protection Unit Supervisor where she is responsible for leading development and implementation of the County Groundwater Plan as well as other strategic groundwater and drinking water protection efforts. Valerie also serves on the Metropolitan Area Water Supply Advisory Committee (MAWSAC).

Brent Beste, Brent is a Water Resources Planner with the MN DNR. Brent has been with the DNR for 11 years, with 9 years spent reviewing groundwater use permits across Southern and Southwestern MN. In Brent’s role as the water resources planner, he coordinates large water related projects to ensure consistency across different technical groups and partner organizations. Brent holds a bachelor’s in Meteorology and Hydrology from St. Cloud State University and a Masters in Public Administration from Hamline University.