Protecting Wisconsin's Groundwater Through Comprehensive Planning
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  Crawford County
  This report provides the most current information and data found, as of May 2007, unless otherwise noted.
   
  Crawford County groundwater findings reports Crawford County full report Switch to Crawford County full report
 

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. Crawford County has 8 municipal water systems.  Table showing water systems in Crawford County
 

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION POLICIES   Table showing water systems in Crawford County

  • 2 of 8 municipal water systems in Crawford County have a wellhead protection plan: Prairie du Chien and Seneca.
  • 1 of 8 municipal water systems in Crawford County has a wellhead protection ordinance: Prairie du Chien.
  • Crawford County has adopted an animal waste management ordinance.
 

MONEY SPENT ON CLEANUP

  • Over $4 million have been spent on petroleum cleanup in Crawford County from leaking underground storage tanks, which equates to $249 per county resident.
  • No municipal water systems in Crawford County have spent money to reduce nitrate levels.
 

GROUNDWATER USE    Water use figure

  • From 1979 to 2005, total water use in Crawford County has fluctuated from about 2.9 million gallons per day to about 3.8 million gallons per day.*
  • The fluctuations in total water use over this period is due to fluctuations in all usage categories except irrigation which increased.
  • The proportion of county water use supplied by groundwater has been 99% in 1979 and consistently about 98% from 1985 to 2000. 2005 decreased to 90%.*
  • 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   Susceptibility map

  • 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 Crawford County can be seen in the FULL REPORT or accessed through the map link above.
 

GROUNDWATER QUALITY

  • 94% of 54 private well samples collected in Crawford County from 1990-2006 met the health-based drinking water limit for nitrate-nitrogen.   Nitrate map
  • A 2002 study estimated that 43% of private drinking water wells in the region of Wisconsin that includes Crawford 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.   Statewide pesticide map
  • 13,198 acres of land in Crawford County are in the Lower Wisconsin River Valley atrazine prohibition area.  Map showing atrazine prohibition areas in Crawford County
  • 100% of 8 private well samples collected in Crawford County met the health standard for arsenic.
 

POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS

  • There are 20 open-status sites in Crawford County that have contaminated groundwater and/or soil. These sites include 10 Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites, 8 Environmental Repair (ERP) sites, 1 spill site, and 1 Voluntary Party Liability Exemptions (VPLE) site.   BRRTS map
  • There are no concentrated animal feeding operations in Crawford County.
  • There are no licensed landfills in Crawford County.
  • There are no Superfund sites in Crawford County.

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Crawford County full report Crawford County full report
   

For more information about this web site, its contributors, and the data contained herein, click here.

For assistance in comprehensive planning, please contact Lynn Markham, UW-Stevens Point.
For assistance on groundwater, please contact Charles Dunning, USGS.
Page contact: Webmaster, USGS
Page last updated: January 15, 2008