U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior
University of Wisconsin-Extension
News Release
Date: March 4, 2008
Contact: Charles Dunning 608-821-3827 cdunning@xxxxxxxx
Lynn
Markham 715-346-3879
Lynn.Markham@xxxxxxxx
____________________________________________________________________________
New Web Site Helps Wisconsin
Plan for Safe Drinking Water
Wisconsin relies heavily on its
groundwater--97 percent of communities in the state and nearly 1 million
additional residents with private wells use groundwater for their daily
needs.
A new web site provides easy access
to information about Wisconsin’s groundwater to assist local governments
in protecting this vital resource and to help owners of private wells tap
into safe drinking water supplies.
The site, located at http://wi.water.usgs.gov/gwcomp/
can play a key role in learning about local groundwater quality and quantity
during National Groundwater Awareness Week, March 9-15.
“Clean, adequate water supplies
are an important foundation for healthy citizens and a healthy economy,”
said Charles Dunning, Assistant Director of the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS) Wisconsin Water Science Center. “We are pleased to offer information
that is so important to people throughout this state.”
“This web site gives local governments
valuable county-by-county information and tools to help them do a better
job of protecting this resource in their comprehensive planning processes,”
says Lynn Markham, Land Use Specialist from the University of Wisconsin-Extension
Center for Land Use Education.
The site incorporates select groundwater
data and policy information from 16 federal, state and local agencies.
Maps and other easy-to-use formats provide data for each of Wisconsin's
72 counties on sources of drinking water, groundwater-protection policies,
money spent on cleanup, groundwater use, susceptibility of groundwater
to pollutants and groundwater quality.
Real examples of how communities
have protected their drinking water supplies through land use planning
are included in the web site. Some communities have maintained forested
or other natural land uses in groundwater-well-recharge areas to minimize
contamination threats.
In other examples, communities
have recognized that the quality of their groundwater depends on how food
is grown within their community. As a result, they have adopted incentives
for farmers to grow organic crops or those that don’t require heavy fertilizer
use.
“The web site is an invaluable
tool for the nearly 1 million people in Wisconsin who get their drinking
water from private wells,” Markham says. “It doesn’t tell them what’s
in their well specifically, but provides very useful information on the
general quality of water in their region. This information is important
for people to consider before buying land if they plan to drill a well.”
While Wisconsin has one of the
most comprehensive groundwater protection and research programs in the
nation and groundwater standards for more than 130 substances to protect
public health and welfare, contamination of groundwater is still a concern.
Up to 40 percent of private wells
in some areas of the state show detectable levels of contaminants that
present a human health concern. Nitrate, for example, has been found in
more than 11 percent of private wells, and pesticides or their breakdown
products have been identified in 38 percent of private wells.
The web site was developed jointly
by the Center for Land Use Education at UW-Stevens Point and the USGS Wisconsin
Water Science Center. Funding for this project came from the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources and the UW System through the Wisconsin
Groundwater Coordinating Council. Additional funding was provided by the
USGS Cooperative Water Program.
USGS provides science for a changing
world. For more information, visit www.usgs.gov.
Subscribe to USGS News Releases
via our electronic
mailing list or RSS
feed.
**** www.usgs.gov ****
Diane Noserale
Media Relations, Eastern Region
U.S. Geological Survey
150 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
phone: 703-648-4333
fax: 703-648-4588
