Gov. Evers Kicks Off 2025 Year of The Kid with Efforts to Ensure Kids and Families Have Access to Safe, Clean Drinking Water

“…Making sure our kids are healthy—physically and mentally—is a crucial part of improving outcomes in our classrooms. But we have to connect the dots between school achievement and the challenges our kids are facing at home and in our communities.

“Take lack of access to clean and safe drinking water, for example. There is no safe level of lead exposure for kids. According to the CDC, even the smallest exposure to lead can have serious, long-term consequences, and can even, ‘reduce a child’s learning capacity, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement.’

“A 2019 study of kids over several early grade levels found that even low-level lead exposure during early childhood can affect a kid’s achievement, including reading and math scores. It also showed that even additional schooling and physically maturing, ‘are not sufficient to offset the damage caused by early childhood exposure.’

“My Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids plan will also help modernize bubblers at schools across Wisconsin to remove harmful contaminants. And, as we kick off the Year of the Kid, I’m also announcing we’re going to invest over $6 million in our biennial budget to support lead poisoning intervention and response. And I’m announcing that this week I’ll approve a Department of Health Services emergency rule strengthening Wisconsin’s lead standards so more kids and families will be eligible for these critical resources.

“With each day of inaction, addressing harmful contaminants in our water grows more and more expensive. So, I’m announcing tonight that I’ve directed an additional $5 million to continue our work getting harmful contaminants out of water wells in 2025, the Year of the Kid. It’s about doing what’s best for our kids and families. Simple as that.

“If we want our kids to bring their full and best selves to our classrooms, elected officials have to start acknowledging how policy decisions and investments—or lack thereof—here in this building affect kids, families, schools, and communities across Wisconsin every day. …”  

BACKGROUND ON GOV. EVERS’ EXPANDED WELL COMPENSATION AND WELL ABANDONMENT GRANT PROGRAM

Gov. Evers in 2022 directed $10 million in federal funds to support the replacement, reconstruction, treatment, or abandonment of contaminated private wells.

The governor’s program, based upon the state’s existing Well Compensation Grant Program, expanded eligibility beyond the current Well Compensation Program to support more private well owners and increase access to clean drinking water. The expanded eligibility mirrored Gov. Evers’ proposals to expand eligibility for the state-funded Well Compensation Grant Program in his previous biennial budgets, which Republicans in the Legislature have rejected, leaving the state-funded program severely underutilized.

To date, DNR has awarded over $9 million through the expanded American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Well Compensation and Well Abandonment Grant Program to 684 grantees statewide. This figure includes the replacement of 393 contaminated wells, the treatment of 106 contaminated wells, the sealing of 182 unused, abandoned wells, and the connection of three contaminated wells to a municipal water supply.  

The reinstated federally funded grant program will provide up to $5 million in financial assistance to well owners to address contamination in their wells by awarding grants for the replacement, reconstruction, treatment or abandonment of their well. The expanded eligibility criteria for both programs will continue as in the previous ARPA grant cycle, meaning many previously ineligible individuals under the state-funded program will be eligible to apply.

The expanded eligibility criteria include these changes to the contamination requirements:

• Any well contaminated with nitrate at concentrations at or above the state’s public health standard of 10 parts per million (ppm) is now eligible. Previously, only nitrate-contaminated wells with concentrations above 40 ppm that were used as a water supply for livestock were eligible. 
• Any well contaminated with arsenic at concentrations at or above the federal drinking water standard of 10 parts per billion (ppb) is now eligible. Previously, only arsenic-contaminated wells above the threshold of 50 ppb were eligible. The arsenic threshold for arsenic-contaminated wells has been lowered from 50 ppb to 10 ppb to comply with federal drinking water standards. 
• Any well with a source of bacterial contamination that presents a human health risk is now eligible for the program. Previously, only wells contaminated with fecal bacteria caused by livestock were eligible. 
• A well with PFAS exceeding the drinking water standard in Ch. NR 809 (70 parts per trillion for PFOA+PFOS) or subject to an advisory from the Department of Health Services due to the levels of PFAS in the well is eligible for well compensation. 

All applicants must provide laboratory results from one water sample that confirms the contamination in their well. For bacteria contamination, two water samples are required. Samples must be tested at a certified laboratory, and testing needs to have been done within the last two years of the application date to be eligible. 

Additionally, the expanded eligibility criteria include these changes to the income requirements:

• The family income limit for grants has been increased from $65,000 to $100,000 annually. 
• There is no longer a requirement that an award must be reduced by 30 percent if the owner or renter of the well has a family income that exceeds $45,000. Owners of contaminated public water systems classified as non-community are now also eligible to apply. Income eligibility will be based on the business owner’s income instead of family income.  

Well owners interested in applying should first determine if they are eligible by completing the Well Compensation Grant Preliminary Eligibility questionnaire. Well owners who are eligible for a Well Compensation Grant can follow the steps to apply on the Well Compensation Grant Program webpage.

Financial assistance is also available from the American Rescue Plan Act Well Abandonment Grant Program to properly fill and seal abandoned or unused private or non-community wells. Applicants must meet the income limit of $100,000 to apply. Eligibility can be determined by completing the Well Abandonment Grant Preliminary Eligibility questionnaire. Well owners who are eligible for a Well Abandonment Grant can follow the steps to apply on the Well Abandonment Grant Program webpage.

Submit any general inquiries on these programs to DNRARPAWellGrants@wisconsin.gov.

Applications will be accepted starting Feb. 3, 2025. 

BACKGROUND ON GOV. EVERS’ LATEST EFFORTS TO ADDRESS LEAD CONTAMINATION AND ENSURE CLEAN DRINKING WATER FOR KIDS AND FAMILIES

No level of lead is considered safe for kids. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC), even the smallest exposure to lead can have serious, long-term consequences and can even “reduce a child’s learning capacity, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement.” Additionally, a 2019 study of kids over several early grade levels found that even low-level lead exposure during early childhood can affect a kid’s achievement, including reading and math scores. It also showed that even physically maturing and additional schooling “are not sufficient to offset the damage caused by early childhood exposure.” 

In 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lowered the blood lead level at which it recommends intervention in cases of lead poisoning to 3.5 µg/dL rather than 5 µg/dL, which is the current state value. According to DHS, between November 2021 and February 2024, approximately 3,272 kids had blood lead levels between 3.5 and 4.9 micrograms per 100 milliliters of blood, but they did not qualify to receive environmental intervention services, because they did not meet the definitions of “lead poisoning or exposure” provided in the statute. DHS estimates that about 1,400 kids are expected to have a blood level between 3.5 and 4.9 micrograms of lead per 100 milliliters of blood in 2025, and this emergency rule would allow those kids to be eligible for environmental intervention services.

Gov. Evers today announced he has approved a DHS emergency rule to lower the lead poisoning threshold to 3.5 µg/dL. By lowering the lead poisoning threshold, Gov. Evers and the Evers Administration will help make more kids and families eligible for lead poisoning and intervention resources.

In order to support the expanded eligibility for environmental intervention services for lead poisoned kids under DHS’s emergency rule approved by Gov. Evers and address this serious concern for the health and well-being of Wisconsin kids, Gov. Evers also announced his 2025-27 Executive Budget will provide over $6.2 million to increase grants to local health departments which support lead poisoning intervention and response. DHS currently grants $769,700 to health departments to support lead poisoning intervention and response, including education programming, screening, care coordination or follow up services for kids not covered by a third-party payer, and other activities related to poisoning or exposure. Each health department would receive at least a $40,000 increase, with an average award increase being $50,700 and jurisdictions with more cases of lead poisoning would receive more funding.

The governor’s budget will also modify statutes to allow utilities to provide financial assistance in the form of 100 percent grant funding for the replacement of lead service lines (LSL) for property owners. Current law requires all property owners, regardless of income, to replace their own water service lines if they contain lead. The cost of replacing a customer-side LSL varies by location but generally ranges from $2,000 to $6,000 per line. This is cost-prohibitive for many low-income customers and potentially places them at risk of service disconnection.

Additionally, the governor’s “Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids” budget proposal, would provide $250,000 for grants to school districts and independent charter schools to replace water fountains with water bottle filling stations with a water filtration component to reduce contaminants in water including lead and chlorine.

According to a 2023 report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum, more than 37,000 lead service lines have been replaced or turned off since 2018, which is more lines replaced or turned off in just five years than in the previous two decades. The report further states that while “this trend represents massive progress from previous decades, these service lines still lurk underground in scores of communities across the state,” underscoring the urgent need to address this issue, most especially in spaces that care for Wisconsin’s youth and kids, such as schools, daycares, and more.