Policy work: groundwater
Balancing the needs of groundwater-sourced lakes, municipalities, agriculture, and industry is a looming challenge yet to be addressed.
Declining water levels on many Wisconsin lakes across the state have prompted increasing concern over groundwater management and high capacity well pumping. Wisconsin's current groundwater law leaves 99% of Wisconsin lakes unprotected. Most of the state's groundwater fed lakes fall through a huge gap in our groundwater law; the Wisconsin Association of Lakes is working to close that gap and increase protection for lakes.
Background on Wisconsin's current groundwater law
The 2003 Groundwater Protection Act (Act 310) sought to regulate the quantity of groundwater being pumped by high capacity wells. The law gives DNR the authority to consider environmental impacts from high capacity well pumping within its permitting process (set forth in administrative rule NR 820).
The Groundwater Protection Act only applies to a limited set of waters: trout streams, Outstanding Resource Waters (ORWs) and Exceptional Resource Waters (ERWs). This means that Wisconsin's current groundwater law fails to protect 99% of the state’s lakes, 97% of springs, 92% of rivers and streams, and 100% of wetlands.
In the case of lakes, only those lakes designated as ORWs (there are no lakes designated as ERWs) are covered under the statute. ORWs typically do not have any direct discharges of pollutants from sources such as industry or municipal sewage treatment plants. Currently, there are 97 lakes and 6 flowages designated as ORWs.
What is an ORW lake and how do I know if my lake is one?
When Wisconsin’s Groundwater Protection Law (Act 310) was signed into law in 2004, the Legislature recognized that the new law was a first step, not a final product. The Legislature specified within the Act that a Groundwater Advisory Committee (link exits site) would be formed and charged with recommending changes in high capacity well regulation (1st report released in 2006 with recommendations for implementing administrative rule NR 820) and further improvements to groundwater law (2nd report released December 2007).
Read our press release on the Groundwater Advisory Committee's second report
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High Capacity Well permitting program (NR 820)
When the legislature passed the Groundwater Protection Act, it gave the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) the authority to establish a permitting program for high capacity wells. The administrative rule that implements the legislative intent of the Groundwater Protection Act is NR 820.
This rule outlines the high capacity well permit process, which permit applications may warrant additional review, and how decisions are made to grant approval for a high capacity well, and/or under what conditions high capacity wells can operate. High capacity wells pump large quantities of groundwater and can reduce the flow of water into lakes, reduce water levels, and cause other negative impacts.
Read WAL's 2006 comments to DNR on proposed NR 820 (PDF 73 KB)
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Initiative to improve Wisconsin's groundwater law
How we manage Wisconsin’s groundwater affects every citizen in this state, from the drinking water that comes out of the tap, to major economic industries (beer brewing, cheese making, paper making, agriculture, tourism), to Wisconsin’s quality of life. Nothing is more critical to the future of this state and its citizens than the protection of the groundwater resources on which so much depends. Unfortunately, our current groundwater law is not up to the task, and without improvements it will do little to prevent in-state “water wars.”
Declining water levels on many Wisconsin lakes across the state have prompted increasing concern over groundwater management and high capacity well pumping.
Our goal is to pass legislation revising current groundwater law that ensures the protection of Wisconsin surface waters (lakes, rivers, wetlands, and springs) while balancing competing demands (drinking water, industry, and agriculture).
We are looking forward to working with the legislature on this issue in the 2009-2011 session.
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