Defender
Summer 2016 join us:
Wisconsin’s most vulnerable waters were left high and dry this spring when Attorney General Brad Schimel issued an opinion substantially scaling back DNR’s ability to review high-capacity well permit applications. While Clean Wisconsin, our members and fellow partners were vocal and active in opposing the opinion, DNR adopted the Attorney General’s opinion in June. This policy change, which threatens Wisconsin’s cherished waterways and perpetuates problems that have been created by an already too-lax system for groundwater protections, means we are even further from solving our groundwater management problem in a scientifically sound, equitable and efficient manner. It also means a continued struggle with lake levels in Wisconsin’s Central Sands area, where groundwater users, lakefront homeowners, hunters, anglers and recreational water users are already at war over the competing uses of the water resources.
CONNECTED BUT NOT EQUAL
HIGH & DRY AG opinion leaves our groundwater more vulnerable than ever
The core of the problem is that while Wisconsin has strong protections in place against the overuse of surface waters, our groundwater is not afforded the same protections. However, our groundwater and surface water are closely connected, and this is especially problematic in the Central Sands region where many lakes are 100% groundwater fed and there is a particularly high concentration of high-capacity wells, used primarily for irrigation. The state’s regulation of high-capacity wells, which are capable of pumping 100,000 gallons or more of groundwater per day, has been a high-profile issue in Wisconsin for many years. In 2011, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling in Lake Beulah Management District v. DNR was hailed as a victory by those seeking protection for water resources in our state. The Court’s unanimous decision found that: “DNR has the authority and duty to consider the environmental impact of a proposed high capacity well if presented with sufficient scientific evidence suggesting potential harm to waters of the state.”
By Elizabeth Wheeler, Senior Staff Attorney
WAUKESHA DIVERSION
Clean Wisconsin 634 W. Main St., #300 Madison, WI 53703-2500
Nonprofit Org U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 1291 Madison, WI
APPROVED While conditions improve the application, we remain opposed to its approval
continued on page 4
On June 21, over eight years since the historic passage of the Great Lakes Compact and roughly six years since the city of Waukesha began its request, the Great Lakes Compact Council (representatives of the Governors of the eight Great Lakes states, who are the final decision-makers on diversion proposals under the Compact) voted unanimously to approve the city’s application to divert Great Lakes water. The decision is historic as it is the first test of the Great Lakes Compact, and the stakes were high to secure the strongest possible decision on how future requests for Great Lakes water would be handled. While the Compact Council made significant changes to Waukesha’s original request, Clean Wisconsin and many of our partner environmental organizations remain opposed because the decision did not go far enough to protect our Great Lakes from the threat of future diversions.
THE GREAT LAKES COMPACT By Ezra Meyer, Water Resources Specialist
Also in this issue
In the mid-2000s, our Great Lakes were facing many threats of water diversion. Dry continued on page 5
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