KEWAUNEE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) – A group has released its recommended proposals to fix Kewaunee County’s groundwater contamination problem.
Studies have shown that 1 in 3 wells tested positive for contamination. However, studies haven’t yet pinpointed where the contamination coming from, be it farm runoff or septic fields.
“The workgroups, are they the end-all, be-all? Absolutely not,” Workgroup member and Town of Lincoln resident Jodi Parins told FOX 11. “They’re a start, they’re a gosh-darn good start, and we just have to have people implement these.”
Four issue subgroups put forward the recommendations.
“Everybody’s got something that they brought to the table,” said Parins. “We looked at all of this data. We looked at a lot of science and the recommendations are reflective of that.”
Here is the breakdown of the recommendations: Short-Term Solutions group looks to get people safe drinking water and find the contamination source; the Sensitive Areas/Best Management Group seeks to define at-risk locations for pollution and recommend practices that should reduce or eliminate the contamination; the Compliance Group is reviewing, evaluating and identifying areas for improvement in state agriculture regulations, well drilling and septic system rules; and the Communications Group will then review recommendations and communicate the information to the public.
A fourth group, Alternative Technologies, has yet to start.
While the contamination source hasn’t been clearly identified yet, Kewaunee County’s large dairy industry is being viewed as a potential source.
“We have about 250 cows here, so we’re a little bit above average in size, here in Kewaunee County,” dairy farmer Paul Cornett explained, who is on the compliance work group.
“Well, some of the issues brought pretty easy consensus, I think when it came to doing a better job of enforcing the regulations that are already exist, there was fairly good consensus there and I think there’s a lot of motivation for all of us here to do a better job when it comes to water quality.”
Cornett says he felt some at the table were trying to slow the county’s dairy industry and potential expansions, but says the proposed recommendations – which were reached at a consensus – are a step forward, not back.
“It’s the ‘art of the possible’ at this point, and hopefully everybody’s willing to do what they can and I think we’ll make progress.”
A final report will be released in the spring. As the work groups continue to work on their recommendations, a DNR-funded study into the problem will also continue this year.
