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Dear Wetland Advocate,
An important groundwater
protection bill (SB 620/AB 844) is working its way through the legislature.
The Assembly Natural Resources Committee is holding a hearing on the bill
next Wednesday, March 31st at 9:00 a.m. in Madison. Testimony from citizens
and scientists is needed to demonstrate that there is strong public
support, and an ecological imperative, for the sustainable management of
Wisconsin's groundwater resources. Read on for details about the bill and
how you can help get it passed.
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About the Groundwater Protection Act
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 Current
state law offers only limited protections against the environmental
impacts of excessive groundwater pumping. In the meantime, groundwater
dependent rivers, lakes, and wetlands are literally drying out in some
areas of the state. The proposed Groundwater Protection Bill (SB 620/AB
844) will implement many of the stopgaps that scientists and conservation
organizations have identified as necessary to ensure sustainable use of
Wisconsin's groundwater resources. Specifically, the bill:
- Recognizes
that groundwater and surface waters are connected.
- Improves
consideration of impacts to lakes, streams and wetlands for wells
proposed in identified groundwater problem areas.
- Provides
a means to adjust groundwater pumping in areas with groundwater
shortages.
- Encourages
water users to employ conservation and efficiency measures to avoid
wasting water resources.
To read a copy of the
proposed Groundwater Bill, click
here.
For a full synopsis of how the bill addresses current gaps
in groundwater protections, click
here.
Photo: Groundwater dependent fen
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Does the bill improve protections for
wetlands?
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Passage will improve protections for all groundwater dependent surface
waters (i.e., lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands), but there are some
limits to how or when impacts to all of these waters will be evaluated.
For example, current and proposed law affords special protections to
trout streams, outstanding or exceptional resource waters, and high
volume springs (> 25cfs). Impacts to wetlands adjacent to these waters
will be assessed and addressed when a well is proposed within 1,200 ft of
one of these designated waters. Impacts to surface waters, including
wetlands, will also be evaluated when a proposed well has the potential
to have a "significant adverse environmental impact to surface
waters"; however, in some cases the burden of proving a well may
cause such impacts falls to the public through a petition process.
Although the bill doesn't go as far as we think it should to guarantee
protections for wetlands and other surface waters, WWA supports the bill
because it takes an important step forward to improve groundwater
management in the state. We are tracking the developments of this bill
very closely and are in regular communications with lawmakers and
partners in an effort to further strengthen proposed protections for
wetlands and other surface waters.
Updates on this and other
Wetland Alert issues will be provided in Wetland News. Click
here to subscribe.
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How and why to speak up for groundwater
protection
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Though groundwater is critically important to Wisconsin's industries, it
also provides clean drinking water for Wisconsin's communities and vital
inputs to our lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands. In some areas of the
state, groundwater is being pumped at rates faster than it can be
replenished. Communities are struggling to supply clean drinking water to
local residents and streams, lakes and wetlands are drying out.
The Groundwater
Protection Act creates a framework to require communities in
groundwater problem areas to work together to plan for and implement more
sustainable uses of groundwater resources. Industries opposing the bill
do so in an effort to protect their ability to use groundwater with little
to no oversight, even in areas where problems already exist.
The legislature needs to be
reminded that groundwater affects us all and should be managed for the
mutual benefit of Wisconsin's citizens, industries and ecosystems. You
can help by attending the hearing and sharing stories about how
groundwater affects your life. Technical comments on the connections
between groundwater and surface waters (including wetlands) and the
threats over pumping poses to these waters would also be helpful.
Hearing details:
When: Wednesday, March 31, 9:00 a.m.
Where: State Capitol, Room 417 N (GAR Hall)
If you can't attend the
hearing but want to provide comments on the bill, you can also send a
short email or letter to the Assembly
Natural Resources Committee. Please copy the Senate
Committee on Environment on your correspondence.
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