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.  

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION POLICIES   

• 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    

• 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   

• 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.  
• 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.   
• 13,198 acres of land in Crawford County are in the Lower Wisconsin River Valley atrazine prohibition area. 
• 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.   
• 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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