David Tenenbaum: Sand County Irrigation Water→

University of Wisconsin-Madison:

“More than 14,000 years ago, receding glaciers left a broad, deep swath of sand and gravel across central Wisconsin. Today, the Central Sands region hosts a thriving agricultural economy, but the sandy soil renders most of the crops dependent on irrigation that originates in groundwater.

About 13 years ago, streams, lakes and marshes in the Sands started to dry up, and some observers blamed the growing number of high-capacity irrigation wells. Even though the water level in these fresh waters has improved, the number of high-capacity wells continues to rise, and so the question remains: what is the best route to sustainable irrigation that serves the farm economy and the environment at the same time?

One key question is this: How much water — whether from rain or irrigation — is used by plants, and how much moves deeper, to augment groundwater?...

Already, says Isherwood, the groundwater problem is serious. “The number of high-capacity (irrigation) wells in Portage County just reached 3,000, and there are areas where some lakes are strongly impacted. I’m not one to say that I know what the solution is, but I think farmers need to understand that we have to play a part in this. I think the question becomes, what is my fair share of the aquifer to use?””

Lee Bergquist: Water Wars on the Sand Counties of Wisconsin→

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Two articles on groundwater and lakes

“War Over Water

In 2010, Minnesota lawmakers passed legislation giving that state’s DNR the authority to establish groundwater protection areas that allow the agency to limit water use to meet human needs and protect lakes, streams and wetlands.

After three years of review, the first protection area was designated in November 2015 in metropolitan St. Paul — an area that runs to the Wisconsin border. Two other areas have been identified in rural areas of Minnesota.

In Wisconsin, with Kraft’s work being questioned and environmentalists pressing for action, the DNR and the growers association underwrote a two-year, $230,000 study of the Little Plover.

In April, the Wisconsin Geological & Natural History Survey and the U.S. Geological Survey found that groundwater played a key role in the health of the Little Plover; the river was vulnerable to groundwater pumping; and that stream flows would improve substantially if wells nearest the river were removed.

The study “did not refute the work of Dr. Kraft — if anything, it built on that work,” said Ken Bradbury, director of the state natural history survey and co-author of the study.

But Tamas Houlihan, executive director of the potato and vegetable group, said his industry isn’t convinced, although he says growers near the Little Plover have voluntarily changed their farming and irrigation practices to conserve water.”

— http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2016/09/03/war-over-water-land-plenty/89481060/

“Water Policy

Plainfield — Three years after Brian Wolf bought his home on Long Lake in 2006, lawmakers and water policy experts began stopping by to see what had happened to the lake.

”It’s as if someone pulled the plug in a bathtub,” Wolf told one group of visitors in November 2009. “This lake is dead.”

Legislators left Wolf’s home in western Waushara County with plans to address growing worries about high-capacity wells and the effect groundwater pumping was having on lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands.

But lawmakers tried and failed to pass a groundwater bill in the 2010 legislative session. This year, legislative efforts also went nowhere.

This summer, the water in Long Lake is mostly gone, dotted by a few marshy areas. Cattails and grasses sprout from the former lake bed. Other traditionally shallow lakes in this region of sandy soil in the middle of the state have shared similar fates.

A dock on Long Lake near Coloma is surrounded by weeds. The lake has seen its water levels plummet and has become a marsh. Landowners blame the large number of high-capacity wells used to irrigate crops in the region.

They have become symbols of the tug-of-war over water use in Wisconsin. The advantage has shifted to large water users as the number of high-capacity wells have proliferated and efforts to put more limits on the use of groundwater have foundered.”

— http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2016/09/04/conflicts-thwart-reforms-state-water-policy/89482796/

Lee Bergquist: Little Plover River Groundwater Study→

Journal Sentinel:

“A long-awaited study that examines how irrigation is affecting the closely watched Little Plover River in central Wisconsin could help prevent the river from running dry again.

The results of the state-funded research also may provide clues on how large-scale groundwater withdrawals are affecting streams, rivers and lakes elsewhere, according to scientists.

Groundwater issues have become increasingly contentious in Wisconsin, especially in the 1.75 million-acre Central Sands region — home to a large potato and vegetable growing industry. The region relies on more than 3,000 high-capacity wells to grow crops.

The Little Plover, a Class 1 trout stream, flows for about 6 miles near Stevens Point before it enters the Wisconsin River. But more than its reputation for fishing, the river is infamously known for stretches that run dry, as they did in 2005 and 2009.”

Good groundwater science was done years ago by Dr. Kraft, who was quoted in this article. However, farmers and civic leaders apparently did not want to hear about how farm irrigation was the main reason for lower river flows. So the science and the predictions are now better and yet some farmers and civic leaders apparently still will not be convinced. When you start with a given pre-set belief or dogma and then search for any argument to rationalize, defend or justify the overexploiting of a pubic resource, then you are corrupt and your actions self-servicing. 

Wisconsin Public Radio's Route 51 broadcast a program discussing the newly released scientific study of the effects of high capacity wells on groundwater and the Little Plover River in the central sands region of Wisconsin. It included a panel discussion with George Kraft, hydrologist with UW Extension in Stevens Point; Tamas Houlihan, executive director of the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association; Scott Krug, Republican Party Assemblyman from the Town of Rome; and Katrina Shankland, Democratic Party Assemblywoman from Stevens Point. 

If you would like to listen to the podcast of this program, click this link

Jonathan Kaiman: Groundwater Pollution Crisis in China→

The Guardian:

“Nearly 60% of China’s underground water is polluted, state media has reported, underscoring the severity of the country’s environmental woes.

The country’s land and resources ministry found that among 4,778 testing spots in 203 cities, 44% had “relatively poor” underground water quality; the groundwater in another 15.7% tested as “very poor”.

Water quality improved year-on-year at 647 spots, and worsened in 754 spots, the ministry said.

“According to China’s underground water standards, water of relatively poor quality can only be used for drinking after proper treatment. Water of very poor quality cannot be used as source of drinking water,” said an article in the official newswire Xinhua...”

Big Farms and Groundwater→

Kate Golden, reporting for WisconsinWatch:

USDA; Flickr.com

“Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp on Tuesday declined a large dairy farm’s request that she overturn an administrative law judge’s ruling on its water discharge permit.

Among those watching the case for potential statewide impact are rural residents, groundwater advocates and farmers — including Kinnard Farms co-owner Lee Kinnard, whose permit is at issue. “It doesn’t affect Kinnard Farms. This affects the dairy industry,” Kinnard said. “This is much bigger.” The Kewaunee County farm plans to expand by 55 percent to about 6,200 cattle. But neighbors challenged its permit. They wanted the DNR to impose groundwater monitoring and a cap on the number of cattle.

After a four-day hearing including testimony from both sides, Judge Jeffrey Boldt ordered those conditions. In his Oct. 29 ruling, Boldt blamed widespread well pollution in the area on what he called a “massive regulatory failure.””

When you fail to consider groundwater, careful you must be. For the loss of groundwater bites back.

Questions About the Water Supply Plan→

Brendon Slotterback, writing for Streets.mn:

MPR

“White Bear Lake is looking less like a lake all the time. The Met Council has released a report with a few solutions to this issue, all which involve relying more on surface water (rivers) and less on groundwater. The proposed solutions range in price from $155 million to over $600 million. The options are myriad, but all involve long pipes to existing or new water treatment plants that use water from the Mississippi River. Options for areas served vary, but the study area includes communities totaling 157,823 people in 2010 (208,580 projected in 2040).

However, the report seems insufficient to me. It lacks answers to lots of important questions that members of the Metropolitan Council (and residents of the region) should be asking. Here are a few I came up with as I was reading:”

Brendon has 6 questions then asks one more:

“Where is the conservation alternative? The cost and feasibility of reducing water use are not analyzed as part of the report. Building nothing and simply asking/incentivizing/requiring people to use less may be the cheapest option. ”

— http://netdensity.net/2014/07/28/3312/

Conservation matters, ... Look at the waste on lawns. Judge conservation on no change in potable water use, do you?

Quest to Save Groundwater→

Elizabeth Dunbar, reporting for MPR:

“Summer water bills that spike and cities that scramble to pump enough groundwater to keep neighborhoods lush and green, even during droughts, are nothing new in the Twin Cities.

But fresh doubts about groundwater supplies are testing long-held assumptions that water is both cheap and plentiful. New technology, more aggressive pricing structures and shifting attitudes are beginning to change how some Minnesotans view and care for their lawns.”

Rachel

Named must your insanity be before banish it you can. The waste of drinking water that is.

With Lakes Drying Up, Businesses Are Parched→

Jeff Beckham, reporting for the New York Times: 

“Central Texas lakes are at their lowest levels in more than 60 years, despite heavy rains in the recent days, and Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan, the reservoirs northwest of Austin that supply water to the region, now stand at just 33 percent full. These lower levels have significantly reduced customer traffic and forced many lakeside business owners to make difficult decisions.”

The old proverb holds true today, 'You never know the value of water till the lake level falls [or the well runs dry].'

How science studies lakes like White Bear; update on fixing a lethal intersection→

Ron Meador, reporting for MinnPost: 

“Sometimes it seems we know still less about the water beneath our feet: how much of it there is, how reliably it’s being replenished, how long our ever-increasing demands on it can be sustained.

Many interesting glimpses into our reservoirs of groundwater knowledge and ignorance were laid out in a talk last Thursday evening, sponsored by The Freshwater Society and the University of Minnesota’s College of Biological Sciences.”

Get ready for more White Bear Lakes: Two new looks at groundwater depletion→

Ron Meador, reporting for MinnPost:

“Two new reports on Minnesota’s groundwater resource deserve more attention than they’ve been getting. One, from the U.S. Geological Survey, updates and elaborates its findings that falling water levels in White Bear Lake are largely attributable to increased groundwater pumping by city water systems to the north and west. Another, from the Freshwater Society, sets that lake’s predicament in the context of a much larger problem — a huge increase in groundwater pumping all across Minnesota during the last quarter-century.”

Minnesota Running Out of Water?→

Paul Austin writes:

“A recent study by the Freshwater Society of Minnesota looked at the groundwater issues Minnesota is currently facing. From their research, they came up with a plan for reducing the strain we currently place on our aquifers. The plan will take some personal responsibility and some political leadership to attain.

The basic thrust of their report was that we cannot maintain our current trajectory when it comes to water usage and not expect to run out of water in certain places. Their analysis indicated that the state’s water usage increased 31 percent between 1988 and 2011. To cut that number, we need to start looking at ways each and every one of us can decrease our personal usage, and work with the various levels of government to ensure that where voluntary reductions are not working, mandatory backstops are in place to help protect this valuable resource.”