Minnesotans have 10,000 good reasons to care about their water resources.

And they do, demonstrating it by voting themselves a tax increase in 2008 largely on the strength of an appeal for the value of our lakes, rivers and streams. Beyond that, “there’s an alignment of planets right now” when it comes to attention to water issues, the Freshwater Society’s Steve Woods told us. He cites among recent headline-makers the Flint, Mich., contamination crisis; a Des Moines water system lawsuit over upstream pollution; and droughts in our Western states and around the globe in India.