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. Ashland County has 4 municipal water systems.  

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION POLICIES   

• 1 of 4 municipal water systems in Ashland County has a wellhead protection plan: Butternut.
• 0 of 4 municipal water systems in Ashland County have a wellhead protection ordinance.
• Ashland County has not adopted an animal waste management ordinance.

MONEY SPENT ON CLEANUP

• Over $8 million have been spent on petroleum cleanup in Ashland County from leaking underground storage tanks, which equates to $514 per county resident.
• No municipal water systems in Ashland County have spent money to reduce nitrate levels.

GROUNDWATER USE    

• From 1979 to 2004, total water use in Ashland County has increased from just over 3.2 million gallons per day to 4.5 million gallons per day.
• The increase in total water use over this period is due largely to an increase in industrial use. Commercial usage has decreased by a half.
• The proportion of county water use supplied by groundwater increased from 22.4% in 1979 to almost 42% in 2000 and decreased to 17.6% 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 Ashland County can be seen in the FULL REPORT or accessed through the map link above.

GROUNDWATER QUALITY

• 100% of 56 private well samples collected in Ashland 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 Ashland 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 Ashland County.
• 100% of 4 private well samples collected in Ashland County met the health standard for arsenic.

POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS

• There are 31 open-status sites in Ashland County that have contaminated groundwater and/or soil. These sites are composed of 18 Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites, 12 Environmental Repair (ERP) sites and 1 Voluntary Party Liability Exemption (VPLE) site.   
• There are no concentrated animal feeding operations in Ashland County.
• There are no licensed landfills in Ashland County.
• There is 1 Superfund site in Ashland County.

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