Gov. Evers, DNR Announce Funding to Help 12 Communities Remove Over 15,000 Lead Service Lines to Ensure Clean, Safe Drinking Water for Wisconsinites Across the State

“Since Day One, my administration and I have been hard at work to get harmful contaminants out of our water, homes, schools, and communities for good, and a big part of that effort has been replacing or turning off lead service lines across the state,” said Gov. Evers. “No amount of lead is safe for kids, and thanks to the help of federal funding made possible by partners like Sen. Baldwin, we’ve been able to remove over 86,000 private and public service lines across our state, with more to come. This is a really big deal, and I am glad we are able to get these funds out to the communities that need them to ensure Wisconsin’s kids and families have access to the safe, clean drinking water they deserve.”

A subprogram of the federal Safe Drinking Water Loan Program, the Lead Service Line Replacement Program provides funding to municipalities for both public and private lead service line replacements and related lead service line inventory work to protect public health, utilizing funding provided by former President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Passed by the U.S. Congress in 2021 and championed by U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), the BIL included $50 billion for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen and rebuild the nation’s water infrastructure, including $15 billion for lead service line replacement nationwide. Additional information about the current Lead Service Line Replacement Program can be found on the DNR’s website.

“Every Wisconsin family deserves to know that when they turn on the tap, the water coming out is safe and clean,” said Sen. Baldwin. “That’s why I was proud to support the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and deliver funding to remove lead pipes, protect Wisconsinites’ health, and ensure every family has access to clean drinking water.”

Since 2019, Gov. Evers has allocated nearly $500 million to replace lead service lines in all corners of the state. These investments support the replacement of a total of 86,094 lead service lines, including 19,869 public-side lead service lines and 66,225 private-side lead service lines. Notably, Gov. Evers proposed an additional $200 million investment in lead service line replacement in his 2025-27 state budget proposal, which would have enabled all communities who applied for funding in this application round to have received support. Unfortunately, the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee rejected the governor’s proposal.

Examples of preliminarily approved projects include:

City of Neenah, Winnebago County | Over $1.9 million
The funding is expected to facilitate the removal of 249 lead service lines in low-income census tracts. $1,451,363 is principal forgiveness, and the remaining $483,788 will be available at an interest rate of 0.25 percent. 

City of Wausau, Marathon County | Over $10.6 million
The funding is expected to facilitate the removal of 1,194 lead service lines in low-income census tracts and throughout the city. $4,889,556 is principal forgiveness, and the remaining $5,729,259 will be available at an interest rate of 0.25 percent. 

City of Mellen, Ashland County | Over $773,000
The funding is expected to facilitate the removal of 70 lead service lines throughout the city. All $773,278 is entirely principal forgiveness.

Additional information, including the 2027 Lead Service Line Replacement Program funding list, is available on the DNR’s website.

ENSURING CLEAN, SAFE WATER AT HOME, SCHOOL, AND IN THE COMMUNITY

No level of lead is considered safe for kids and, as governor, Gov. Evers has made efforts to replace lead service lines across the state a top priority. Last year, Gov. Evers announced that the Wisconsin Department of Health Services finalized a new rule, making permanent an emergency rule that the governor approved in January 2025, to combat lead poisoning statewide by lowering the lead poisoning threshold to 3.5 µg/dL. By lowering the lead poisoning threshold, more kids and families will be eligible for lead poisoning and intervention resources, 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.

Additionally, the governor’s 2025-27 Biennial Budget proposal included an investment of more than $300 million to help get lead out of Wisconsinites’ pipes, bubblers, schools, homes, and child care centers for good. Unfortunately, Republicans in the Wisconsin State Legislature gutted the governor’s efforts to clean up lead, PFAS, and other harmful contaminants statewide and rejected hundreds of millions of dollars in investments to ensure kids, families, and farmers have access to safe and clean drinking water. Despite this setback, Gov. Evers maintains that replacing lead service lines and ensuring Wisconsinites have access to clean and safe water is essential.

ADDITIONAL EVERS ADMINISTRATION EFFORTS TO ENSURE WISCONSINITES HAVE ACCESS TO CLEAN, SAFE DRINKING WATER

Gov. Evers declared 2019 the Year of Clean Drinking Water, and for the past seven-plus years, the governor has prioritized efforts to invest in clean water infrastructure and ensure Wisconsinites have access to safe, clean water statewide.   

To continue building upon the governor’s work to ensure Wisconsin’s kids and families have clean, safe drinking water, the 2025-27 Biennial Budget signed by Gov. Evers last year increases borrowing for the state’s Environmental Improvement Fund by $731.6 million to secure federal clean water and safe drinking water capitalization grants over the next four years. This will help meet the increasing demand from local communities who need support to upgrade local water systems and infrastructure to ensure every Wisconsin kid, family, and community has clean, safe drinking water.      

In addition, the 2025-27 Biennial Budget provided: