KEWAUNEE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) – A plan to offer some Kewaunee County residents clean drinking water has been announced by a group of organizations, including dairy farms.
On Wednesday, Peninsula Pride Farms unveiled its Water Well program. As part of the program, residents whose water supplies test positive for E. coli bacteria will be provided with bottled water and have well inspections paid for.
The program will also cover installation and maintenance costs of any water treatment systems deemed necessary.
Peninsula Pride Farms is a group representing dairy farms in Kewaunee and Door counties.
“This is a large proactive step being taken toward providing solutions to the issues facing businesses and citizens in karst areas with shallow soils,” said Wisconsin DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp in a statement. “This type of effort was among the recent recommendations made by the Kewaunee Groundwater Working Groups that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources facilitated more than a year ago and it is exciting to see it come to fruition with the help of Peninsula Pride.”
Wells in the county have been tested in recent years. According to county health officials, about 30 percent tested positive for some kind of contamination. Of those, about 2 percent had E. coli bacteria.
Other more common contaminants include coliform bacteria and nitrates. The Water Well program does not cover wells affected by contaminants other than E. coli.
Concerns about water quality in the area where cows outnumber people nearly 5-to-1 have persisted for years. County leaders have said farm runoff or septic fields at homes could be responsible for contamination in wells.
Some citizens say the program is a good first step, but the larger issue is the high number of cows in the county and related manure spreading.
Besides Peninsula Pride Farms, the Water Well program is being funded by a state grant and local businesses including Nicolet Bank, HSHS Prevea and Breakthrough Fuels.
