Minnesota’s Water: A Public Blueprint for Collective Action

Minnesota’s waters define our history, culture, and economy. But we’ve long taken our abundant fresh water for granted, and it’s now under threat. Water shortages, contamination, and competition for water rights are no longer hypothetical—they are immediate realities demanding our action. Without a united and immediate effort, we risk putting our most vital resources in jeopardy.

That’s why, two years ago, the Minneapolis Foundation helped launch a new statewide drive to imagine Minnesota as the water leader of the nation.

In late 2023, in partnership with the Harris family, we engaged the design firm Imagine Deliver to convene a cross-section of leaders in Minnesota’s water ecosystem. We aimed to increase the collective sense of urgency about water issues facing our state, seeding interest and excitement to reshape the narrative of how Minnesotans think, feel, and act about water. Together, we can build a movement to put the Mni (the Dakota word for water) back in Minnesota.

Over the following year, we created spaces for cross-sector leaders to share their diverse perspectives, build a shared understanding of the urgent challenges presented by a fragmented water ecosystem, and identify opportunities to drive long-term change. These conversations included a gathering of more than 80 leaders at the Bakken Museum as well as the 2024 Minnesota Meeting, which drew more than 200 leaders from science, government, business, and communities statewide to discuss issues affecting the environment.

At this event, we heard from Attorney General Keith Ellison, who announced a task force on the future of water in Minnesota. We were also pleased to announce the next phase of this water work would be led by an incredible organization, Conservation Minnesota.

The work to date lives at a new website, putwaterfirst.org. 

This website offers a public blueprint and open-source hub for advancing Minnesota’s water future. It’s a resource for anyone working to protect water and grow Minnesota’s economy—from planners and policymakers to business leaders and nonprofits.

The launch of PutWaterFirst.org is an important outcome of the work we helped start in 2023—but it does not mark the end of our investment in Minnesota’s water. In line with our mission of strengthening our community, the Minneapolis Foundation has long supported local action on climate and environmental issues. That work continues today, notably through the Great Lakes Thriving Communities Grantmaking program and our Climate Action and Racial Equity Fund.

We encourage you to explore those programs as well as PutWaterFirst.org and plug into the opportunities they offer to take action for our water, our communities, and our shared future.

This entire project would not have happened without the generosity and vision of the Harris family, who approached the Minneapolis Foundation in late 2023 with the parameters of what became Put Water First.

Ray Harris was a developer, long-time civic activist, and fierce advocate for protecting Minnesota’s water. We miss Ray very much. We join the entire community in thanking him for a long career of loving Minneapolis in important and impactful ways.