Implementing Local Groundwater Protection Programs

Developing a local groundwater management plan is an excellent start to protecting water supplies. First, identify plan goals and objectives, then select management techniques. Water use patterns, the type of threat to groundwater, and the local hydrologic system must be taken into account.

A community initiating a groundwater protection program must make a long-term commitment to protecting its water supply. Communities around the country have used a variety of groundwater protection techniques. Communities should pick techniques best-suited to local situations and financial capabilities to maximize protection and minimize cost.

Local officials and citizens must balance the need for and commitment to groundwater protection against competing community activities. Additionally, selection of a groundwater protection strategy must consider a community's available technical ability to administer and enforce a protection program (Dinovo). Where local resources are limited, a community may choose to scale down its program. Contaminant sources, sensitive areas and management options may need to be prioritized to derive the greatest benefit with limited financial resources. Communities may wish to seek outside funding such as state and federal grants.

Local units of government in Wisconsin are playing an increasingly larger role in groundwater management and protection. Counties are authorized to adopt private well code and septage disposal ordinances. Cities, villages, towns and counties are authorized to adopt zoning ordinances to protect groundwater. Some Wisconsin counties are developing groundwater management plans with assistance from the University of Wisconsin-Extension, WDNR and the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey. Groundwater protection activities are also incorporated into the state's areawide water quality management plans through WDNR. The publication, A Guide to Groundwater Quality Planning and Management for Local Governments (Born 1987), is available from WDNR and the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey.

There is no single best approach to groundwater protection, as local situations vary. One theme should, however, provide the basis for any groundwater planning effort: groundwater management should emphasize prevention and protection of groundwater contamination, not remedial action.

For more information on groundwater, visit the WDNR - Drinking Water and Groundwater Program