Water Infrastructure Intelligence — Minnesota

The most concrete movement this cycle is the advance of 511 projects onto the IUP roster, a $2.1B slice of the list that marks the largest single-signal shift in the data. Among new entries, MCES Crow River appeared on the priority list for the first time under the Clean Water / Wastewater program, listed at an estimated cost of $182.0M and ranked #52. Brainerd also appeared on the priority list for the first time, its advanced treatment and biosolids scope estimated at $80.0M and ranked #342, well behind Crow River in priority order.

Rank movement told a different story for two drinking water projects. Cloquet's W11 Manganese Plant treatment project climbed in priority rank to #59, carrying an estimated cost of $3.1M. Stillwater's PFAS W9 Treatment Plant project also climbed in priority rank, to #381, with an estimated cost of $11.4M. Both sit within the Drinking Water SRF program, though their rank positions place them at different distances from the top of the list.

Across the category rollup, water treatment and wastewater treatment together account for the largest dollar figures on the list, $1.6B and $3.3B respectively, while watermain and distribution work carries the highest project count at 353, valued at $995.5M. Collection and sewer projects follow with 222 entries worth $1.5B, and nutrient removal and regionalization round out the categories at $989.7M and $817.5M. The spread suggests treatment-heavy projects concentrate the dollar value while distribution work concentrates the project count.

The overall list contraction, 1,443 projects against 1,552 a year prior, sits alongside 117 removals whose cause the list does not specify. With $2.1B in project value now sitting on the IUP roster, that roster remains the closest signal to imminent procurement tracked in this data.