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. Marquette County has 1 municipal water system.  

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION POLICIES   

• 1 of 1 municipal water system in Marquette County has a wellhead protection plan: Montello.
• 0 of 1 municipal water system in Marquette County have a wellhead protection ordinance.
• Marquette County has adopted an animal waste management ordinance.

MONEY SPENT ON CLEANUP

• Over $5 million have been spent on petroleum cleanup in Marquette County from leaking underground storage tanks, which equates to $353 per county resident.
• No municipal water systems in Marquette County have spent money to reduce nitrate levels.

GROUNDWATER USE   

• From 1979 to 2005, total water use in Marquette County has increased from about 1.8 million gallons per day to 10.4 million gallons per day.
• Total water use increased substantially in 1995 due to increased commercial use and total water use increased substantially in 2000 due to increased agriculture and irrigation use.
• The proportion of county water use supplied by groundwater has decreased from over 99% to about 91% during the period 1979 to 2000 and increased to 96% 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 Marquette County can be seen in the FULL REPORT or accessed through the map link above.

GROUNDWATER QUALITY

• 91% of 386 private well samples collected in Marquette County from 1990-2006 met the health-based drinking water limit for nitrate-nitrogen.  
• A 2002 study estimated that 36% of private drinking water wells in the region of Wisconsin that includes Marquette 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.   
• 7,807 acres of land in Marquette County are in atrazine prohibition areas.
• 74% of 126 private well samples collected in Marquette County met the health standard for arsenic.

POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS

• There are XX open-status sites in Marquette County that have contaminated groundwater and/or soil. These sites include 7 Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites, 6 Environmental Repair (ERP) sites and 4 spill sites.   
• There are 2 concentrated animal feeding operations in Marquette County.
• There are 2 licensed landfills in Marquette County.
• There are no Superfund sites in Marquette County.

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