Protecting Wisconsin's Groundwater Through Comprehensive Planning
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  Green Lake County
  This report provides the most current information and data found, as of May 2007, unless otherwise noted.
   
  Green Lake County groundwater findings reports Green Lake County full report Switch to Green Lake County full report
 

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. Green Lake County has 5 municipal water systems.  Table showing water systems in Green Lake County
 

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION POLICIES   Table showing water systems in Green Lake County

  • 2 of 5 municipal water systems in Green Lake County have a wellhead protection plan: Berlin and Markesan.
  • 1 of 5 municipal water systems in Green Lake County has a wellhead protection ordinance: Berlin.
  • Green Lake County has adopted an animal waste management ordinance.
 

MONEY SPENT ON CLEANUP

  • Over $11 million have been spent on petroleum cleanup in Green Lake County from leaking underground storage tanks, which equates to $579 per county resident.
  • 1 municipal water system in Green Lake County has spent money to reduce nitrate levels.
 

GROUNDWATER USE    Water use figure

  • From 1979 to 2005, total water use in Green Lake County has increased from about 3.8 million gallons per day to about 8.3 million gallons per day.*
  • The increase in total water use is due primarily to increases in aquaculture and irrigation uses.
  • The proportion of county water use supplied by groundwater has fluctuated between 94% to about 99% 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   Susceptibility map

  • 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 Green Lake County can be seen in the FULL REPORT or accessed through the map link above.
 

GROUNDWATER QUALITY

  • 81% of 208 private well samples collected in Green Lake County from 1990-2006 met the health-based drinking water limit for nitrate-nitrogen.   Nitrate map
  • A 2002 study estimated that 36% of private drinking water wells in the region of Wisconsin that includes Green Lake 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.   Statewide pesticide map
  • 14,380 acres of land in Green Lake County are in atrazine prohibition areas. Map showing atrazine prohibition areas in Green Lake County
  • 100% of 16 private well samples collected in Green Lake County met the health standard for arsenic.
 

POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS

  • There are 21 open-status sites in Green Lake County that have contaminated groundwater and/or soil. These sites include 13 Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites and 8 Environmental Repair (ERP) sites.  BRRTS map
  • There is 1 concentrated animal feeding operation in Green Lake County.
  • There is 1 licensed landfill in Green Lake County.
  • There are no Superfund sites in Green Lake County.

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Green Lake County full report Green Lake County full report
   

For more information about this web site, its contributors, and the data contained herein, click here.

For assistance in comprehensive planning, please contact Lynn Markham, UW-Stevens Point.
For assistance on groundwater, please contact Charles Dunning, USGS.
Page contact: Webmaster, USGS
Page last updated: January 14, 2008