At the Oct. 2 Pierce County Board Finance & Personnel Committee meeting, members voted to forward a recommendation to create a Groundwater Advisory Committee to the full board.

According to a memo from Land Conservation Director Rodney Webb, the most recent version of the Land and Water Resource Management Plan, adopted in 2021, lists the goal to “improve and protect Pierce County surface and groundwater quality.” Over the past three years, the Land Conservation and Public Health departments worked jointly to provide well water testing opportunities to all Pierce County residents in an effort to determine current groundwater quality conditions. The results showed that 16.4% of Pierce County wells tested exceeded the health standards for nitrate, which naturally occurs in plants and animals and can enter groundwater from fertilizers or animal and human waste.

“Additionally, the Land Conservation Committee has received a significant amount of public input regarding the potential detrimental effects of large livestock facilities on groundwater quality,” Webb wrote. “In order to properly assess groundwater threats and to determine if current ordinances and workplans are adequate, the Land Conservation Committee motioned to recommend creation of the Ad Hoc Groundwater Advisory Committee.”

The recommendation is to form a nine-member committee comprised of Pierce County residents with varying expertise and perspectives with a common goal of protecting groundwater resources. Department directors from Land Conservation, Land Management and Public Health will serve as committee advisors. Land Conservation Department staff member Retta Isaacson would serve as the committee’s facilitator.

If county board approved, the board chair will appoint nine members:

• Five citizen members at large with one having expertise in a groundwater-related field, a private well owner not involved with production agriculture and at least two who are employed or engaged in farming (one whose main income comes from livestock production and one whose main moneymaker is crop production).
• One county board supervisor, acting as liaison to the county board
• Three members from Pierce County-based environmental-focused non-governmental organizations

Duties of the committee would include:

• Providing valuable insight and recommendations to the county board by applying local knowledge, review of monitoring and technical data, and discussing current and potential groundwater management activities
• Researching, gathering, analyzing and synthesizing scientific literature regarding all potential impacts on groundwater quality, including but not limited to livestock facilities, row crop production systems, and municipal and industrial nutrient sources, specifically as it applies to Pierce County
• Identifying areas where new regulations may be needed, where current regulations need to be modified, and where enforcement of current regulations is inadequate and needed to protect groundwater resources
• Proposing solutions to mitigate problems and/or shortcoming identified in a report to the county board

The full county board will consider the recommendation at an upcoming meeting.

ARPA money available for well mitigation

According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, American Rescue Plan Act well compensation and well abandonment grants are available for people who need to replace, reconstruct, treat or abandon their well or water system.

Applicants could receive up to $16,000 if eligible. Eligibility requirements include:

• Owning a private well or non-community water system
• Annual family or business income of $100,000 or less
• Well or water system is contaminated with nitrate, arsenic, fecal bacteria or PFAS
• You have not begun work on your well or water system yet

Applications are due by December 2024. To learn more about eligibility and how to apply, visit dnr.wisconsin.gov/aid/WellCompensation or dnr.wisconsin.gov/aid/WellAbandonment, call 608-577-3583 or email DNRARPAWellGrants@wisconsin.gov