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. Jackson County has 8 municipal water systems.  

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION POLICIES   

• 6 of 8 municipal water systems in Jackson County have a wellhead protection plan: Black River Falls, Brockway Sanitary District #1, Hixton, Melrose, Merrillan and Northfield Sanitary District 1.
• 3 of 8 municipal water systems in Jackson County have a wellhead protection ordinance: Black River Falls, Brockway Sanitary District #1 and Merrillan.
• Jackson County has adopted an animal waste management ordinance.

MONEY SPENT ON CLEANUP

• Over $8 million has been spent on petroleum cleanup in Jackson County from leaking underground storage tanks, which equates to $431 per county resident.
• No municipal water systems in Jackson County have spent money to reduce nitrate levels.

GROUNDWATER USE    

• From 1979 to 2005, total water use in Jackson County has increased from about 2.5 million gallons per day to about 7.1 million gallons per day, though intervening years were variable.*
• The increase in total water use is due to increases in irrigation. Domestic and industrial uses have decreased.
• The proportion of county water use supplied by groundwater has been consistently above about 97% 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 Jackson County can be seen in the FULL REPORT or accessed through the map link above.

GROUNDWATER QUALITY

• 84% of 299 private well samples collected in Jackson County from 1990-2006 met the health-based drinking water limit for nitrate-nitrogen.  
• A 2002 study estimated that 52% of private drinking water wells in the region of Wisconsin that includes Jackson 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.   
• 15,145 acres of land in Jackson County are in atrazine prohibition areas.
• 100% of 4 private well samples collected in Jackson County met the health standard for arsenic.

POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS

• There are 48 open-status sites in Jackson County that have contaminated groundwater and/or soil. These sites include 25 Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites, 13 Environmental Repair (ERP) sites and 10 spill sites.   
• There are 3 concentrated animal feeding operations in Jackson County.
• There are no licensed landfills in Jackson County.
• There are no Superfund sites in Jackson County.

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