SOURCES OF DRINKING WATER

• Wisconsin has nearly 11,500 public water systems which meet the daily water needs of about 4 million people. Public water systems that are owned by a community are called municipal water systems. Clark County has 10 municipal water systems.  

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION POLICIES   

• 8 of 10 municipal water systems in Clark County have a wellhead protection plan: Curtiss, Dorchester, Granton, Greenwood, Loyal, Owen, Thorp and Withee.
• 5 of 10 municipal water systems in Clark County have a wellhead protection ordinance: Curtiss, Granton, Owen, Thorp and Withee.
• Clark County has adopted an animal waste management ordinance.

MONEY SPENT ON CLEANUP

• Over $13 million have been spent on petroleum cleanup in Clark County from leaking underground storage tanks, which equates to $399 per county resident.
• No municipal water systems in Clark County have spent money to reduce nitrate levels.

GROUNDWATER USE    

• From 1979 to 2005, total water use in Clark County has increased from about 5.4 million gallons per day to 6.5 million gallons per day in 1990 and decreased in 1995 to 5.1 million gallons per day, then increased to 6.1 million gallons per day by 2005.*
• This fluctuation in total water use over this period was due primarily to livestock usage and public use and losses. Domestic and commercial have decreased from 2000 to 2005.
• The proportion of county water use supplied by groundwater has decreased from 98% in 1997 to 95% from 1985 to 2000 and dropped to 87% in 2005.*
• Water use in Wisconsin is generally estimated for the following categories:
  • Domestic
  • Livestock
  • Aquaculture
  • Irrigation
  • Industrial
  • Commercial
  • Public use and losses
  • Thermoelectric or mining*

* Thermoelectric and mining data are not considered in water-use tables or figures on this web site. Thermoelectric-power water use is the amount of water used in the process of generating thermoelectric power. The predominant use of water is as non-contact cooling water to condense the steam created to turn the turbines and generate electricity.

SUSCEPTIBILITY OF GROUNDWATER TO CONTAMINANTS   

• Wisconsin has abundant quantities of high-quality groundwater, but once groundwater is contaminated, it's very expensive and often not technically possible to clean.
• An evaluation of the susceptibility of groundwater to contamination in Clark County can be seen in the FULL REPORT or accessed through the map link above.

GROUNDWATER QUALITY

• 95% of 148 private well samples collected in Clark County from 1990-2006 met the health-based drinking water limit for nitrate-nitrogen.  
• A 2002 study estimated that 12% of private drinking water wells in the region of Wisconsin that includes Clark County contained a detectable level of an herbicide or herbicide metabolite. Pesticides occur in groundwater more commonly in agricultural regions, but can occur anywhere pesticides are stored or applied.   
• There are no atrazine prohibition areas in Clark County.
• No arsenic data were found for private wells in Clark County.

POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS

• There are 57 open-status sites in Clark County that have contaminated groundwater and/or soil. These sites include 34 Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites, 22 Environmental Repair (ERP) sites and 1 spill site.  
• There are 6 concentrated animal feeding operations in Clark County.
• There are no licensed landfills in Clark County.
• There are no Superfund sites in Clark County.

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