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. Door County has 3 municipal water systems.  

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION POLICIES   

• 2 of 3 municipal water systems in Door County have a wellhead protection plan: Sister Bay and Sturgeon Bay.
• 1 of 3 municipal water systems in Door County has a wellhead protection ordinance: Sister Bay.
• Door County has adopted an animal waste management ordinance.

MONEY SPENT ON CLEANUP

• Over $8 million has been spent on petroleum cleanup in Door County from leaking underground storage tanks, which equates to $297 per county resident.
• No municipal water systems in Door County have spent money to reduce nitrate levels.

GROUNDWATER USE   

• From 1979 to 2005, total water use in Door County has fluctuated from 3.3 million gallons per day to about 6.9 million gallons per day.*
• The fluctuation in total water use over this period is due primarily to all usage categories, with aquaculture contributing to the largest increase.
• The proportion of county water use supplied by groundwater decreased from over 99% to about 72% during the period 1979 to 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 Door County can be seen in the FULL REPORT or accessed through the map link above.

GROUNDWATER QUALITY

• 97% of 682 private well samples collected in Door County from 1990-2006 met the health-based drinking water limit for nitrate-nitrogen.  
• A 2002 study estimated that 33% of private drinking water wells in the region of Wisconsin that includes Door 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 Door County.
• 100% of 72 private well samples collected in Door County met the health standard for arsenic.

POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS

• There are 62 open-status sites in Door County with contaminated groundwater and/or soil. These sites are composed of 17 Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites, 43 Environmental Repair (ERP) sites, 1 spill site and 1 Voluntary Party Liability Exemption (VPLE) site  
• There is 1 concentrated animal feeding operation in Door County.
• There is 1 licensed landfill in Door County.
• There are no Superfund sites in Door County.

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