In Wisconsin, 70% of residents and 97% of communities rely on groundwater as their drinking water source. Protecting groundwater from contamination and overuse is vital to the health of Wisconsin’s people, ecosystems, communities, and economy. Many Wisconsin communities are facing groundwater stress in various forms and can benefit or have benefitted from groundwater planning. For example: Private well testing and drinking water education programs in Iowa County led to greater awareness, installation of household water filters, greater use of the county's well abandonment program and participation in a comprehensive groundwater study to guide local land use planning. Chemical contamination of a municipal well in the City of Waupaca by a dry cleaning business led to reduced pumping capacity and the city council and local businesses adopted multiple water conservation measures.
To facilitate the economic revival of its rural communities by providing incentives for young farmers to engage in high-margin organic farming businesses, Woodbury County, Iowa provides a full rebate of real property taxes for five years to anyone that converts to organic farming techniques that comply with the USDA standards. High nitrate levels in a municipal well in the City of Chippewa Falls led the county board to adopt a county-wide wellhead protection ordinance. Rapid population growth in Washington County led the Town of Richfield to develop a water budget for the town and then adopt a groundwater protection ordinance that applies to water use of new development.
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