That was the forecast at a conference Julie Kennedy attended several years ago. âNow we are starting to see that water is a rich commodity,â Kennedy, Grand Rapids Public Utilities general manager said. Several Iron Range municipalities are asking residents, businesses and other users to conserve water as a summer-long drought lingers. So far, the conservation requests are voluntarily. âWe did voluntary efforts probably about a month ago, specifically irrigation,â Kennedy said. âPeople say, 'I can deal with my yard dying, but I just put $1,000 worth of shrubs in'. We'r...