ST. PAUL — Minnesota officials proposed Thursday to essentially double the wholesale price of water for the state’s largest users as it seeks to get a better grip on growing demand for groundwater.

The plan by Gov. Mark Dayton and the Department of Natural Resources would increase water fees for more than 7,000 water permit holders statewide that use more than 1 million gallons annually.

The proposal, which needs legislative approval, would raise the cost for 1 million gallons of water from an average of about $7.50 to $15.

“Put another way, the proposal raises the price of water from 0.00075 of a penny per gallon to 0.0015 of a penny per gallon,” the DNR said in its announcement.

Jason Moeckel, inventory, monitoring and analysis section manager for the DNR’s ecological and water resources division, said a typical homeowner would pay 50 cents to $1 more per year.