Protecting Wisconsin's Groundwater Through Comprehensive Planning
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  Portage County
  This report provides the most current information and data found, as of July 2008, unless otherwise noted.
   
  Portage County groundwater findings reports Portage County full report Switch to Portage 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. Portage County has 5 municipal water systems.  Table showing water systems in Portage County
 

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION POLICIES   Table showing water systems in Portage County

  • 5 of 5 municipal water systems in Portage County have a wellhead protection plan: Amherst, Junction City, Plover, Stevens Point and Whiting.
  • 5 of 5 municipal water systems in Portage County have a wellhead protection ordinance: Amherst, Junction City, Plover, Stevens Point and Whiting.
  • Portage County has adopted an animal waste management ordinance.
 

MONEY SPENT ON CLEANUP

  • Over $12 million has been spent on petroleum cleanup in Portage County from leaking underground storage tanks, which equates to $192 per county resident.
  • 3 municipal water systems in Portage County have spent money to reduce nitrate levels.
 

GROUNDWATER USE    Water use figure

  • From 1979 to 2005, total water use in Portage County has increased from about 40.0 million gallons per day to about 132 million gallons per day.*
  • The increase in total water use over this period is due to increases in irrigation and industrial uses.
  • The proportion of county water use supplied by groundwater has declined from 97% to 89% 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. D1

 

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 Portage County can be seen in the FULL REPORT or accessed through the map link above.
 

GROUNDWATER QUALITY

  • 70% of 614 private well samples collected in Portage 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 Portage County contained a detectable level of a 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
  • 45,527 acres of land in Portage County are in atrazine prohibition areas. Map showing atrazine prohibition areas in Portage County
  • No arsenic data were found for private wells in Portage County.
 

POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS

  • There are 60 sites with contaminated groundwater and/or soil in Portage County with an open status. These sites include 20 Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites, 32 Environmental Repair (ERP) sites and 8 spill sites.   BRRTS map
  • There is 1 concentrated animal feeding operation in Portage County.
  • There is 1 licensed landfill in Portage County.
  • There are no Superfund sites in Portage County.

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Portage County full report Portage 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