It’s All Connected
One of the most glaring gaps in water resource protection in Wisconsin is the inadequate oversight of groundwater pumping. Many of the states’ surface waters are fed by groundwater, so depletions in groundwater have a direct effect on streams, lakes and wetlands. While the Groundwater Protection Act, passed in 2004, requires analysis to make sure withdrawals from big wells will not impact some of the state’s most pristine rivers, the law leaves many rivers, most lakes and all wetlands unprotected from excessive groundwater withdrawals, with the Little Plover River in central Wisconsin serving as a prime example. Nearly every summer, a section of this trout stream goes dry due to the combined pumping of irrigation and municipal wells.
One of the top priorities for the conservation community across the state for this legislative session is to improve the Groundwater Protection Act, requiring that all big wells be evaluated for their potential impact to surface waters, and giving DNR the authority to seek solutions where groundwater pumping is already causing problems. Senator Mark Miller, Chair of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Representative Spencer Black, Chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, are taking these issues very seriously and are working with us to develop new legislation. Our hope is to see significant improvement to our groundwater laws in spring of 2010.
For more information, contact Lori Grant, Policy Program Manager.
In addition to concerns about overuse of groundwater, the River Alliance and Midwest Environmental Advocates are leading the charge to better protect groundwater quality. There have been long term contamination issues in the northeast part of the state as manure and other wastes spread on the land quickly infiltrate groundwater and run off into streams. Every spring delivers brown water out of the taps of homeowners in “karst” regions of the state, areas of exposed bedrock left by glaciers that extend from Door County, arcing south and then northwest toward Barron County. These “karst” areas are especially susceptible to groundwater contamination, as land-applied manure and industrial and municipal sludge flows freely into cracks in the bedrock and directly to the groundwater. These cracks also carry polluted runoff laterally into nearby surface waters. Wisconsin’s one-size-fits-all rules for manure management just aren’t good enough for karst areas, and we aim to establish special management zones for these problem areas. We also aim to create more uniform standards and better management for all the types of wastes that are landspread. For more information, contact Denny Caneff, Executive Director.
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