Dave Neiman Source Water Protection Awards
Source Water Protection

Every year the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and Minnesota Rural Water Association (MRWA) jointly recognize public water systems who demonstrate outstanding commitment to protecting their drinking water source. The winner and finalists are announced at the Minnesota Rural Water Conference in March. They are presented with certificates signed by the Governor's office in hometown recognition ceremonies.

In 2020, MDH and MRWA created a new award category to recognize public water systems serving populations of 1,000 or less.

Effective in 2021, the awards were renamed the “Dave Neiman Source Water Protection Awards” to celebrate and commemorate the contributions that Dave Neiman made to source water protection in Minnesota over his career.

Jump to:

• Winners and Finalists
• Nominate an Outstanding Public Water System
• About Dave Neiman

Winners and finalists

Congratulations to the 2025 winners and finalists listed below! Previous winners and finalists are listed in the archive.

Large system category winner: City of Adrian

The city of Adrian has undertaken several significant projects to ensure long-term safety and sustainability of their water supply, including:

• Enrolling three parcels of land into perpetual easements, which will provide long-term protection for the city’s drinking water supply. These easements will contain perennial plant cover which will reduce the amount of nitrate that can seep into the groundwater. Additional cover crops were planted on key fields, which will further help reduce nitrate contamination in the groundwater.
• Monitoring which areas are most at-risk of nitrate contamination and taking action to protect the groundwater in those areas. Examples included installing buffers and bioreactors and using best land-use practices, such as planting cover crops.

Small system category winner: City of Cobden

The city of Cobden has undertaken several notable projects to protect their drinking water source, including:

• Educating residents about the importance of sealing unused wells.
• Creating an inventory of wells that need to be sealed in the Drinking Water Supply Management Area.
• Sealing 11 unused wells.

Finalists: Cities of Goodhue, Thief River Falls, Clarks Grove, and Randall

The city of Goodhue collaborated with local partners to implement best practices for reducing nitrogen, hosting a nitrate clinic where 123 samples were tested, and providing educational luncheons to teach community members about wellhead protection.

The city of Thief River Falls convened workshops with technical experts to review methods of protecting drinking water, reduced the amount of disinfection byproducts in their water system, and collaborated extensively with numerous state and local partners to ensure safe drinking water for all residents.

The City of Clarks Grove sealed an abandoned well, eliminating a potential source of contamination to the aquifer that supplies the city's drinking water.

The city of Randall put together a comprehensive response plan after nearly a foot of rain caused significant flooding. They then worked quickly to extend multiple well casings to protect the aquifer from flood-related contamination, and communicated effectively with a landowner to initiate the sealing of an old creamery well, eliminating another potential source of contamination.

Nominate an outstanding public water system

Fill out and submit a Nomination Template Form (Word) to nominate an outstanding public water system. The form includes instructions. The public water system must have an approved source water protection plan.

Nominations for accepted until the third Friday in January.

About Dave Neiman

Dave Neiman joined MRWA in 1995 and focused on source water, groundwater, and wellhead protection. Bruce Olsen, former MDH SWP Unit Supervisor said of Dave,

“Dave is one of the pioneers involved with developing the wellhead protection program and has greatly helped MDH staff determine the role that planners have in preparing and implementing wellhead protection plans. Dave is responsible for developing the roles that MRWA plays in protecting public sources of drinking water and was instrumental in helping the MDH assess the practicality of state wellhead regulations as they were being developed. The people of Minnesota owe a debt of gratitude to Dave for his devotion to drinking water protection and for the countless hours that he has contributed to helping public water suppliers protect everyone’s drinking water.”

Dave valued and represented the “salt of the earth” public water supplier perspective in wellhead protection planning and program development. He has left an amazing legacy and his efforts will continue to influence the future of source water protection. Some of Dave’s work can be found on the MRWA website.