Attorney General Ellison appoints members of Task Force on Future of Minnesota’s Water
Task Force to study stewardship of state water resources; will hold first meeting on June 11 at the Minnesota Capitol
June 5, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) — Today, Attorney General Ellison announced the appointments he has made to the Advisory Task Force on Future of Minnesota’s Water that he formed on March 31, 2025. The Task Force includes both DFL and Republican lawmakers, representatives from state agencies, as well as members of the public representing agriculture, tribal communities, businesses, and local regulators, as well as advocates and experts in the areas of water quality and conservation.
Members of the Task Force will study issues affecting the stewardship of Minnesota’s water resources, explore best practices, and collaborate to develop a broad set of recommendations for policymakers and regulators, advocacy groups and business leaders, communities, and individuals. The Task Force will also produce a report on their findings.
Attorney General Ellison also announced today that the Task Force will hold 6 meetings over the next year, with the first taking place on June 11 at 1:00pm at the Minnesota Capitol Room 316. All Task Force meetings will be livestreamed and are open to the public as well as members of the media. More information can be found on the Task Force’s webpage.
“For Minnesota to continue to thrive, we must be good stewards of our water resources. Challenges like climate change and increasing demand will only make that more difficult in the coming years, so I decided to convene a task force to identify opportunities to strengthen collaboration,” said Attorney General Ellison. “Our focus is not regulation, it’s imagination. The goal is not to point fingers or assign blame, but to collect and explore the best thinking around what’s possible for us as stewards of Minnesota’s water. Task Force members include both DFLers and Republicans, come from all areas of the state, and represent a diverse array of communities with interests in and expertise on the issue of water. I look forward to everything this Task Force will contribute to the preservation of our essential water resources for generations to come.”
Task Force Members:
Lawmakers
- DFL Representative Kristi Pursell, District 58A
- GOP Representative Isaac Schultz, District 10B
- DFL Senator Ann Johnson Stewart, District 45
- GOP Senator Keri Heintzeman, District 6
State Agency Representatives
- Jess Richards, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
- Brad Jordahl Redlin, Minnesota Department of Agriculture
- Myra Kunas, Minnesota Department of Health
- Dana Vanderbosch, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Members of the Public
- Kelly Applegate, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
- Will Bement, White Earth Reservation
- Darin Broton, Minnesota AgriGrowth
- Erick Francis, City of St. Louis Park
- Peg Furshong, CURE
- Caroline Griffith, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy
- David Leuthe, Retired Water Resource Manager
- Angela M. Lipelt, Mower County
- Julie Lucas, MiningMinnesota
- Neva Maxwell, Cook County
- Jeff Pagel, Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation
- Tessa Parks, W.T. Farms and Clean River Partners
- Nancy Schuldt, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
- Lienne Sethna, PhD, Science Museum of Minnesota's St. Croix Watershed Research Station
- Professor Harvey Thorleifson, University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering