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. Barron County has 9 municipal water systems.  

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION POLICIES   

• 7 of 9 municipal water systems in Barron County have a wellhead protection plan: Almena, Barron, Cameron, Chetek, Cumberland, Rice Lake and Turtle Lake.
• 2 of 9 municipal water systems in Barron County have a wellhead protection ordinance: Cameron and Chetek.
• Barron County has not adopted an animal waste management ordinance.

MONEY SPENT ON CLEANUP

• Over $7 million has been spent on petroleum cleanup in Barron County from leaking underground storage tanks, which equates to $164 per county resident.
• No municipal water systems in Barron County have spent money to reduce nitrate levels.

GROUNDWATER USE  

• From 1979 to 2005, total water use in Barron County has increased from just less than 9.6 million gallons per day to about 19.4 million gallons per day.
• The increase in total water use over this period is due primarily to increases in irrigation and industrial use.  Commercial usage decreased by a half.
• The proportion of county water use supplied by groundwater increased from 95% in 1979 to around 98% since 1985.
• 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 Barron County can be seen in the FULL REPORT or accessed through the map link above.

GROUNDWATER QUALITY

• 85% of 590 private well samples collected in Barron County from 1990-2006 met the health-based drinking water limit for nitrate-nitrogen.  
• A 2002 study estimated that 25% of private drinking water wells in the region of Wisconsin that includes Barron 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 Barron County.
• 92% of 13 private well samples collected in Barron County met the health standard for arsenic.

POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS

• There are 40 open-status sites in Barron County that have contaminated groundwater and/or soil. These sites include 16 Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites, 23 Environmental Repair (ERP) sites and 1 spill site.  
• There are 5 concentrated animal feeding operations in Barron County.
• There is 1 licensed landfill in Barron County.
• There are no Superfund sites in Barron County.

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