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Waushara County |
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This report provides the most current
information and data found, as of May 2007, unless otherwise
noted. |
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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.
Waushara County has 5 municipal water systems.
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GROUNDWATER
PROTECTION POLICIES
- 3 of 5 municipal
water systems in Waushara County have a wellhead
protection plan: Coloma, Redgranite and Wautoma.
- 3 of 5 municipal
water systems in Waushara County have a wellhead
protection ordinance: Coloma, Redgranite and Wautoma.
- Waushara County has adopted an animal
waste management ordinance.
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MONEY SPENT
ON CLEANUP
- Over $8 million
has been spent on petroleum cleanup in Waushara County from leaking underground
storage tanks, which equates to $351 per county
resident.
- No municipal water systems in Waushara
County have spent money to reduce nitrate levels.
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GROUNDWATER
USE
- From 1979 to 2005, total water use in Waushara County has increased from
about 18.3 million gallons per day to about 52.3 million gallons per day.*
- The increase in total water use over this period is due to primarily to an
increase in irrigation use.
- The proportion of county water use supplied by groundwater has ranged from
about 86% to almost 100% 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.
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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 Waushara County can be seen
in the FULL REPORT or accessed through the map
link above.
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GROUNDWATER
QUALITY
- 83% of 259 private
well samples collected in Waushara County from 1990-2006 met the health-based
drinking water limit for nitrate-nitrogen.
- A 2002 study estimated that 36%
of private drinking water wells in the region of Wisconsin that includes Waushara
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.
- 14,567 acres of land in Waushara
County are in atrazine prohibition areas.
- 100% of 12 private well samples
collected in Waushara County met the health standard for arsenic.
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POTENTIAL
SOURCES OF CONTAMINANTS
- There are 15
open-status sites in Waushara County that have contaminated groundwater
and/or soil. These sites include 4 Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) sites,
7 Environmental Repair (ERP) sites, 3 spill sites and 1 Voluntary Party Liability
Exemption (VPLE) site.
- There are no concentrated
animal feeding operations in Waushara County.
- There are no licensed landfills in
Waushara County.
- There are no Superfund sites in Waushara
County.
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