Protecting Wisconsin's Groundwater Through Comprehensive Planning
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  Polk County
  This report provides the most current information and data found, as of May 2007, unless otherwise noted.
   
  Polk County groundwater findings reports Polk County full report Switch to Polk 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. Polk County has 12 municipal water systems.  Table showing water systems in Polk County
 

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION POLICIES   Table showing water systems in Polk County

  • 7 of 12 municipal water systems in Polk County have a wellhead protection plan: Amery, Clear Lake, Dresser, Frederic, Luck, Milltown and Osceola.
  • 3 of 12 municipal water systems in Polk County have a wellhead protection ordinance: Amery, Dresser, and Osceola.
  • Polk County has adopted an animal waste management ordinance.
 

MONEY SPENT ON CLEANUP

  • Over $8 million has been spent on petroleum cleanup in Polk County from leaking underground storage tanks, which equates to $195 per county resident.
  • No municipal water systems in Polk County have spent money to reduce nitrate levels.
 

GROUNDWATER USE   Water use figure

  • From 1979 to 2005, total water use in Polk County has increased from about 5.4 million gallons per day to about 10.9 million gallons per day.*
  • The increase in total water use over this period is due to primarily to increases in domestic, aquaculture, and public use and losses usage.
  • The proportion of county water use supplied by groundwater has consistently been above 98% 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 Polk County can be seen in the FULL REPORT or accessed through the map link above.
 

GROUNDWATER QUALITY

  • 91% of 783 private well samples collected in Polk County from 1990-2006 met the health-based drinking water limit for nitrate-nitrogen.   Nitrate map
  • A 2002 study estimated that 25% of private drinking water wells in the region of Wisconsin that includes Polk 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
  • There are no atrazine prohibition areas in Polk County.
  • 94% of 18 private well samples collected in Polk County met the health standard for arsenic.
 

POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS

  • There are 57 open-status sites in Polk County that have contaminated groundwater and/or soil. These sites include 29 Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites, 27 Environmental Repair (ERP) sites and 1 spill site.   BRRTS map
  • There are 4 concentrated animal feeding operations in Polk County.
  • There are no licensed landfills in Polk County.
  • There are no Superfund sites in Polk County.

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Polk County full report Polk 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