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. Grant County has 21 municipal water systems.  

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION POLICIES   

• 6 of 21 municipal water systems in Grant County have a wellhead protection plan: Bagley, Bloomington, Dickeyville, Fennimore, Lancaster and Montfort.
• 3 of 21 municipal water systems in Grant County have a wellhead protection ordinance: Fennimore, Lancaster and Montfort.
• Grant County has adopted an animal waste management ordinance.

MONEY SPENT ON CLEANUP

• Over $13 million have been spent on petroleum cleanup in Grant County from leaking underground storage tanks, which equates to $274 per county resident.
• No municipal water systems in Grant County have spent money to reduce nitrate levels.

GROUNDWATER USE    

• From 1979 to 2005, total water use in Grant County has decreased from 9.2 million gallons per day to about 8.1 million gallons per day. *
• The decrease in total water use is due to decreases in domestic and industrial use, as well as public use and losses.
• The proportion of county water use supplied by groundwater has decreased from over 98% to 93% 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 Grant County can be seen in the FULL REPORT or accessed through the map link above.

GROUNDWATER QUALITY

• 89% of 596 private well samples collected in Grant 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 Grant 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.   
• 8,894 acres of land in Grant County are in atrazine prohibition areas.
• 100% of 27 private well samples collected in Grant County met the health standard for arsenic.

POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS

• There are 66 open-status sites in Grant County that have contaminated groundwater and/or soil. These sites include 41 Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites, 23 Environmental Repair (ERP) sites, 1 spill site and 1 Voluntary Party Liability Exemption (VPLE) site.   
• There are 3 concentrated animal feeding operations in Grant County.
• There is 1 licensed landfill in Grant County.
• There are no Superfund sites in Grant County.

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