"Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over" is reputed to be Mark Twain's summary of what he found on a trip out West. In the arid western states, it's not surprising that competition for water is an endless source of conflict.
In Wisconsin, we're blessed with a plentiful supply of water. Our state borders two Great Lakes and is home to more than 15,000 lakes and 7,000 streams. The water we see on the surface is only the start - underground, Wisconsin boasts 1.2 quadrillion gallons of groundwater.
Groundwater is rightfully called Wisconsin's buried treasure. More than 70 percent of our drinking water is supplied from groundwater sources. Groundwater is essential to Wisconsin's agriculture and industry. The health of our natural resources also is tied to our groundwater. Most of our lakes, streams and wetlands are directly connected to groundwater.
While our supply of water is plentiful, it's not unlimited, and in parts of our state we are starting to run up against those limits. In central Wisconsin the Little Plover River, a Class I trout stream, dried up in 2005 and then again in 2006. The river dried up not due to a lack of rainfall but because wells in the area were pumping too much groundwater. A number of lakes in that part of the state also experienced dramatically lower water levels due to groundwater overuse.
In Waukesha, excessive withdrawals lowered groundwater levels as much as 150 feet, resulting in dangerous levels of radium in local drinking water supplies. The urbanized areas of Dane County and the Fox Valley also experienced significant lowering of groundwater levels.
In 1983, in response to discovering atrazine and other contaminants in drinking water drawn from wells, Wisconsin adopted a pioneering groundwater protection law to address groundwater quality. Concern about protecting groundwater quantity has only come more recently.
In 1999, Perrier announced plans for a water bottling plant at Mecan Springs, the source of the Mecan River. Perrier planned to pump nearly three-quarters of a million gallons of water each day. The proposal demonstrated that state laws protecting our groundwater supply were virtually nonexistent.
This concern about the proposed Perrier plant led to the 2004 Groundwater Protection Act. This law provided review of some new high capacity wells (those that pump over a 100,000 gallons a day), but its scope was limited. It was a good first step, but only that - a first step. The new law wisely set up an advisory council to evaluate the law and to make recommendations to the Legislature for improvements.
The committees we chair - the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Environment Committee - are charged with protection of our state's water resources. We realize current and future demands for water in Wisconsin can threaten our lakes and streams and our drinking water supply. If we act wisely, Wisconsin can have sufficient water resources for the foreseeable future. Now is the time to put the tools in place to plan for the future wise use of our groundwater resource.
For that reason, our committees recently held a joint hearing to receive the report of the Groundwater Advisory Committee and to listen to hydro-geologists and other experts. Following that hearing, we formed a bipartisan legislative working group to review the current law and recommend improvements. Legislators from both parties and houses will seek input from scientific experts and conservationists, as well as users of our groundwater including water utilities, industry and agriculture. Our aim is to enact a comprehensive, statewide law to better protect our groundwater supplies during this legislative session.
Our economy and our outdoors are both dependent on wise stewardship of our water. It is our hope that this effort will lead to legislation that will protect and secure our groundwater resources for generations.
- Representative Spencer Black, D-Madison, is chairman of the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources. Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, is chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment.
In Wisconsin, we're blessed with a plentiful supply of water. Our state borders two Great Lakes and is home to more than 15,000 lakes and 7,000 streams. The water we see on the surface is only the start - underground, Wisconsin boasts 1.2 quadrillion gallons of groundwater.
Groundwater is rightfully called Wisconsin's buried treasure. More than 70 percent of our drinking water is supplied from groundwater sources. Groundwater is essential to Wisconsin's agriculture and industry. The health of our natural resources also is tied to our groundwater. Most of our lakes, streams and wetlands are directly connected to groundwater.
While our supply of water is plentiful, it's not unlimited, and in parts of our state we are starting to run up against those limits. In central Wisconsin the Little Plover River, a Class I trout stream, dried up in 2005 and then again in 2006. The river dried up not due to a lack of rainfall but because wells in the area were pumping too much groundwater. A number of lakes in that part of the state also experienced dramatically lower water levels due to groundwater overuse.
In Waukesha, excessive withdrawals lowered groundwater levels as much as 150 feet, resulting in dangerous levels of radium in local drinking water supplies. The urbanized areas of Dane County and the Fox Valley also experienced significant lowering of groundwater levels.
In 1983, in response to discovering atrazine and other contaminants in drinking water drawn from wells, Wisconsin adopted a pioneering groundwater protection law to address groundwater quality. Concern about protecting groundwater quantity has only come more recently.
In 1999, Perrier announced plans for a water bottling plant at Mecan Springs, the source of the Mecan River. Perrier planned to pump nearly three-quarters of a million gallons of water each day. The proposal demonstrated that state laws protecting our groundwater supply were virtually nonexistent.
This concern about the proposed Perrier plant led to the 2004 Groundwater Protection Act. This law provided review of some new high capacity wells (those that pump over a 100,000 gallons a day), but its scope was limited. It was a good first step, but only that - a first step. The new law wisely set up an advisory council to evaluate the law and to make recommendations to the Legislature for improvements.
The committees we chair - the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Environment Committee - are charged with protection of our state's water resources. We realize current and future demands for water in Wisconsin can threaten our lakes and streams and our drinking water supply. If we act wisely, Wisconsin can have sufficient water resources for the foreseeable future. Now is the time to put the tools in place to plan for the future wise use of our groundwater resource.
For that reason, our committees recently held a joint hearing to receive the report of the Groundwater Advisory Committee and to listen to hydro-geologists and other experts. Following that hearing, we formed a bipartisan legislative working group to review the current law and recommend improvements. Legislators from both parties and houses will seek input from scientific experts and conservationists, as well as users of our groundwater including water utilities, industry and agriculture. Our aim is to enact a comprehensive, statewide law to better protect our groundwater supplies during this legislative session.
Our economy and our outdoors are both dependent on wise stewardship of our water. It is our hope that this effort will lead to legislation that will protect and secure our groundwater resources for generations.
- Representative Spencer Black, D-Madison, is chairman of the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources. Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, is chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment.
