"Wisconsin has some of the strongest water standards in the country," ...we continually work to adapt to new challenges to make sure citizens have clean water to drink. We work with scientists to improve sampling protocols and better understand challenges related to waste. And our continued research helps us more fully understand the inter-relationship of water quality and quantity and address concerns with our water resources."
...Wisconsin continues to make progress in protecting Wisconsin's "buried treasure," its 1.2 quadrillion gallons of groundwater, but viruses and other new threats are emerging, and some longstanding problems, including nitrate contamination of wells, are increasing, according to a new report recently submitted to the Legislature by the state Groundwater Coordinating Council (GCC).
"We have plentiful groundwater resources in the state but they continue to be challenged both from a water quality and water quantity standpoint in 2009," says Todd Ambs, who chairs the council and leads the Department of Natural Resources water programs.
"The Groundwater Coordinating Council is heartened that in the last year Wisconsin continued to put in place important protections, and that we were asked to testify before state legislative committees on this critical resource. We look forward to continuing to work with them as they look at potential new ways we can effectively protect our groundwater, which provides drinking water to nearly 70 percent of Wisconsin residents and supports our economy and environment."
The GCC is an interagency group formed in 1984 to help state agencies coordinate non-regulatory activities and exchange information on groundwater.
The 2009 Groundwater Coordinating Council Report to the Legislature details how Wisconsin continues to build the legal and other infrastructure necessary to protect groundwater, citing passage of the Great Lakes Compact, implementation of the 2003 Groundwater Protection Act, and recent research findings such as those that have resulted in new techniques to detect and trace viruses in groundwater.
Wisconsins' Public Drinking water report is also available
DNR recently submitted "Safe Water on Tap: 2008 Annual Drinking Water Report" [PDF 1.46MB] to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to meet requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The report summarizes Wisconsin's public water systems' performance as a whole between Jan. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2008, according to Jill Jonas, who leads the Department of Natural Resources drinking water and groundwater program.
"Wisconsin public water systems provide a great value at a great cost but it's getting harder," Jonas says. "We're going to have to remain diligent over coming years to make sure that with limited resources we focus more and more on preventing contamination because it's the least expensive way of protecting our drinking water."