While accumulating a 'done-list' for 2015, I asked County Board Supervisor Lee Luft for his input, making sure we did not miss a significant action or detail. His list is much better compiled than mine, so I'm printing his - with permission. One thing that stands out in Luft's list is the significant citizen involvement: attendance at County Board and committee meetings, participation on the Groundwater Task Force and DNR workgroups, watch-dogging the shenanigans of county officials and speaking out on issues that affect us as taxpayers and private citizens, all made a HUGE difference and significantly impacted our progress towards a healthier, safer community. Thank you everyone.
April 2nd, 2015. The initial meeting of the Kewaunee County Groundwater Task Force takes place. First order of business is to deal with beach warning signs and establishment of a Task Force Mission and specific goals.
April 7, 2015. Each Kewaunee County Township, Village and City approved the Public Safety and Groundwater Protection Ordinance by a cumulative margin of 83 to 17%. Some communities voted more than 85% in favor of this new ordinance. The lowest approval rate for any community in Kewaunee County was 75%.
April 15th – 16th, 2015. Ninety –two representatives and over 45 students from Door and Kewaunee County travel to the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison to inform every State of Wisconsin legislator, their staff, and many State of Wisconsin officials about our top legislative priorities. The #1 priority was new legislation to “Protect the Public’s Drinking Water in At-Risk Karst Geo-Regions”. Another top priority was a request to provide consistent funding for public beach water testing. Funding for beach water testing in Door and Kewaunee County was later provided by several sources.
April 16, 2015. County Board Supervisor Lee Luft meets with Russ Rasmussen, DNR Water Division Administrator in Madison to talk about a “non public” meeting between the DNR, the EPA, Kewaunee County CAFO owners and the Dairy Business Association. Russ Rasmussen promises further meetings with all Kewaunee County stakeholders regarding new initiatives to solve Kewaunee County’s water contamination issues (both groundwater and surface water).
May 20, 2015. Lee Luft and other Kewaunee County residents attend a public meeting in Green Bay hosted by the Young Professionals of Green Bay. This meeting featured a presentation by Robert Atwell, president of Nicolet Bank, entitled, “Water, Money and Community”. A number of those attending from Kewaunee County brought the audience up to date about the water contamination issues in Kewaunee County (both ground and surface water). The audience was in most cases unaware of the ground and surface water issues in Northeast Wisconsin.
May 29, 2015. The Kewaunee County Land and Water Conservation Department and Committee members host the Lake Michigan Area Land and Water Conservation Association Spring 2015 Board of Directors Meeting in Luxemburg. It was at this meeting that Bill Schuster (Door County Conservationist) highlighted the many deficiencies of the Nutrient Management Plans (NMPs) that are being used in Door County today including misrepresentations on all eight Door County NMPs. In addition, Mr. Schuster detailed other findings such as failure of manure haulers to actually have copies of the NMPs and the removal of traditional land conservation practices (contouring, waterway protection, terracing, etc.) due to the incompatibility of these practices with large scale farming and the near universal approval of “Emergency Winter Spreading” applications.
July, 2015. Cindy Kinnard (Kewaunee County Groundwater Task Force Vice-Chair and Kewaunee County Public Health Department Head) announces all new beach safety signs for Kewaunee County’s two most popular beaches were successfully installed.
August 5th, 2015. DNR’s Russ Rasmussen and Kyle Burton, DNR Northern RegionWater Division Program Manager, attend the fifth Groundwater Task Force meeting in Luxemburg. Russ Rasmussen announces $80,000 over two years to further research Kewaunee County’s groundwater/well contamination issues. In addition, Mr. Rasumssen announces the formation of five workgroups consisting of DNR, EPA, DATCP, USDA/NRCS, Kewaunee County Land and Water Conservation Department, farmers, dairy industry professionals and concerned citizens to prepare recommendations on improving water quality in our Kewaunee County region. The first three workgroups are to be established immediately. These are: Short Term Solutions (aimed at providing clean water to citizens in need as soon as practical), Best Management Practices for Agriculture (dealing with farming in areas with vulnerable geology) and Compliance and Enforcement Issues (to ensure better implementation of existing and potentially new regulations). Two other workgroups focusing on Communication and Alternative Technologies are to be formed in due course. Monthly meetings for the initial three workgroups are scheduled. Local news coverage of Task Force meetings and Land and Water Conservation meetings is excellent!
October 7, 2015. Kewaunee County Groundwater Task Force establishes two key goals for the remainder of its first full year. Goals are to establish a website that will provide a “one stop” source for information about Kewaunee County’s groundwater issues and the monthly publication of a news release regarding Kewaunee County’s groundwater issues.
November 4th, 2015. Kewaunee County’s informal “Bottled Water Survey” conducted by Kewaunee County’s Land and Water Conservation Department and Kewaunee County’s Public Health Department is reviewed for the public at the Kewaunee County Groundwater Task Force meeting. The Bottled Water Survey reveals that ~59% of the 146 respondents are buying bottled water for their families and that of this number, 42% are doing so because they have had their well tested and found it to be unsafe for human consumption. Another 24% of those buying bottled water were concerned their water was unsafe but had not had their well tested.
November 6th through November 14th, 2015. The largest Kewaunee County well testing effort is conducted. Over 300 individual wells throughout Kewaunee County are tested in just over two weeks. Wells tested included approximately 100 from areas with soil depths of 5 feet or less and 100 from areas with soil depths of 5 to 20 feet and 100 from areas with soil depths greater than 20 feet. Tests were conducted by the USDA Agriculture Research Service and the UW Oshkosh, Department of Geology with assistance from the Kewaunee County Land and Water Department. Funding was provided by the Wisconsin DNR (see August 5th, 2015 entry above).
December 1, 2015. Wisconsin State Legislator’s Hansen and Genrich introduce a Groundwater Protection Bill that mentions Kewaunee County’s specific well contamination rates of 30% of wells tested.
December 2, 2015. The Kewaunee County Groundwater Task Force establishes its Groundwater Task Force web presence on www.kewauneeco.org. The Task Force also approves the first two news releases for publication. The first details the reason for the Task Force and its goals. The second provides information for those who have an unsafe well.
December 8, 2015. Results of the USDA.UW Oshkosh well testing are announced at the December Kewaunee County Land and Water Conservation Committee meeting. In summary, 34% of the 303 Kewaunee County wells tested were found to be unsafe for human consumption due to unsafe levels of Nitrogen and/or Coliform Bacteria/E-coli. This unsafe well test results confirms the longer-term well contamination test results conducted from 2004 to 2014 of 29.7% (of 556 wells tested, 165 were found unsafe during testing conducted during this 11 year period). Testing of an additional 500+/- wells is now planned for Spring, 2016.
December 11, 2015. Well test results (see above) are the headline story in the Kewaunee County Star News along with the publication of the second news release from the Kewaunee County Groundwater Task Force regarding steps citizens can take if they learn their well water is unsafe.
December 15th and 16th, 2015. Final scheduled meetings of the three DNR sponsored workgroups, (Short Term Solutions, Best Management Practices and Compliance) take place in Luxemburg. The Compliance Workgroup issues 33 separate recommendations to improve understanding, compliance, and enforcement of existing and proposed regulations. Eleven of these recommendations are unanimous among a group consisting of a farmer, a professional manure applicator, a Certified Crop Consultant, private concerned citizens, county board member and others. Key to the success of these workgroups will be the implementation of the many recommendations.
Late December, 2015. Nick Cochart, Algoma Public Schools Administrator and Kewaunee County Groundwater Task Force member, announces the beginning of construction of a new clean water kiosk on the grounds of the Algoma High School. Clean water is to be provided at no cost to Kewaunee County citizens who are living with unsafe wells.
April 7, 2015. Each Kewaunee County Township, Village and City approved the Public Safety and Groundwater Protection Ordinance by a cumulative margin of 83 to 17%. Some communities voted more than 85% in favor of this new ordinance. The lowest approval rate for any community in Kewaunee County was 75%.
April 15th – 16th, 2015. Ninety –two representatives and over 45 students from Door and Kewaunee County travel to the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison to inform every State of Wisconsin legislator, their staff, and many State of Wisconsin officials about our top legislative priorities. The #1 priority was new legislation to “Protect the Public’s Drinking Water in At-Risk Karst Geo-Regions”. Another top priority was a request to provide consistent funding for public beach water testing. Funding for beach water testing in Door and Kewaunee County was later provided by several sources.
April 16, 2015. County Board Supervisor Lee Luft meets with Russ Rasmussen, DNR Water Division Administrator in Madison to talk about a “non public” meeting between the DNR, the EPA, Kewaunee County CAFO owners and the Dairy Business Association. Russ Rasmussen promises further meetings with all Kewaunee County stakeholders regarding new initiatives to solve Kewaunee County’s water contamination issues (both groundwater and surface water).
May 20, 2015. Lee Luft and other Kewaunee County residents attend a public meeting in Green Bay hosted by the Young Professionals of Green Bay. This meeting featured a presentation by Robert Atwell, president of Nicolet Bank, entitled, “Water, Money and Community”. A number of those attending from Kewaunee County brought the audience up to date about the water contamination issues in Kewaunee County (both ground and surface water). The audience was in most cases unaware of the ground and surface water issues in Northeast Wisconsin.
May 29, 2015. The Kewaunee County Land and Water Conservation Department and Committee members host the Lake Michigan Area Land and Water Conservation Association Spring 2015 Board of Directors Meeting in Luxemburg. It was at this meeting that Bill Schuster (Door County Conservationist) highlighted the many deficiencies of the Nutrient Management Plans (NMPs) that are being used in Door County today including misrepresentations on all eight Door County NMPs. In addition, Mr. Schuster detailed other findings such as failure of manure haulers to actually have copies of the NMPs and the removal of traditional land conservation practices (contouring, waterway protection, terracing, etc.) due to the incompatibility of these practices with large scale farming and the near universal approval of “Emergency Winter Spreading” applications.
July, 2015. Cindy Kinnard (Kewaunee County Groundwater Task Force Vice-Chair and Kewaunee County Public Health Department Head) announces all new beach safety signs for Kewaunee County’s two most popular beaches were successfully installed.
August 5th, 2015. DNR’s Russ Rasmussen and Kyle Burton, DNR Northern RegionWater Division Program Manager, attend the fifth Groundwater Task Force meeting in Luxemburg. Russ Rasmussen announces $80,000 over two years to further research Kewaunee County’s groundwater/well contamination issues. In addition, Mr. Rasumssen announces the formation of five workgroups consisting of DNR, EPA, DATCP, USDA/NRCS, Kewaunee County Land and Water Conservation Department, farmers, dairy industry professionals and concerned citizens to prepare recommendations on improving water quality in our Kewaunee County region. The first three workgroups are to be established immediately. These are: Short Term Solutions (aimed at providing clean water to citizens in need as soon as practical), Best Management Practices for Agriculture (dealing with farming in areas with vulnerable geology) and Compliance and Enforcement Issues (to ensure better implementation of existing and potentially new regulations). Two other workgroups focusing on Communication and Alternative Technologies are to be formed in due course. Monthly meetings for the initial three workgroups are scheduled. Local news coverage of Task Force meetings and Land and Water Conservation meetings is excellent!
October 7, 2015. Kewaunee County Groundwater Task Force establishes two key goals for the remainder of its first full year. Goals are to establish a website that will provide a “one stop” source for information about Kewaunee County’s groundwater issues and the monthly publication of a news release regarding Kewaunee County’s groundwater issues.
November 4th, 2015. Kewaunee County’s informal “Bottled Water Survey” conducted by Kewaunee County’s Land and Water Conservation Department and Kewaunee County’s Public Health Department is reviewed for the public at the Kewaunee County Groundwater Task Force meeting. The Bottled Water Survey reveals that ~59% of the 146 respondents are buying bottled water for their families and that of this number, 42% are doing so because they have had their well tested and found it to be unsafe for human consumption. Another 24% of those buying bottled water were concerned their water was unsafe but had not had their well tested.
November 6th through November 14th, 2015. The largest Kewaunee County well testing effort is conducted. Over 300 individual wells throughout Kewaunee County are tested in just over two weeks. Wells tested included approximately 100 from areas with soil depths of 5 feet or less and 100 from areas with soil depths of 5 to 20 feet and 100 from areas with soil depths greater than 20 feet. Tests were conducted by the USDA Agriculture Research Service and the UW Oshkosh, Department of Geology with assistance from the Kewaunee County Land and Water Department. Funding was provided by the Wisconsin DNR (see August 5th, 2015 entry above).
December 1, 2015. Wisconsin State Legislator’s Hansen and Genrich introduce a Groundwater Protection Bill that mentions Kewaunee County’s specific well contamination rates of 30% of wells tested.
December 2, 2015. The Kewaunee County Groundwater Task Force establishes its Groundwater Task Force web presence on www.kewauneeco.org. The Task Force also approves the first two news releases for publication. The first details the reason for the Task Force and its goals. The second provides information for those who have an unsafe well.
December 8, 2015. Results of the USDA.UW Oshkosh well testing are announced at the December Kewaunee County Land and Water Conservation Committee meeting. In summary, 34% of the 303 Kewaunee County wells tested were found to be unsafe for human consumption due to unsafe levels of Nitrogen and/or Coliform Bacteria/E-coli. This unsafe well test results confirms the longer-term well contamination test results conducted from 2004 to 2014 of 29.7% (of 556 wells tested, 165 were found unsafe during testing conducted during this 11 year period). Testing of an additional 500+/- wells is now planned for Spring, 2016.
December 11, 2015. Well test results (see above) are the headline story in the Kewaunee County Star News along with the publication of the second news release from the Kewaunee County Groundwater Task Force regarding steps citizens can take if they learn their well water is unsafe.
December 15th and 16th, 2015. Final scheduled meetings of the three DNR sponsored workgroups, (Short Term Solutions, Best Management Practices and Compliance) take place in Luxemburg. The Compliance Workgroup issues 33 separate recommendations to improve understanding, compliance, and enforcement of existing and proposed regulations. Eleven of these recommendations are unanimous among a group consisting of a farmer, a professional manure applicator, a Certified Crop Consultant, private concerned citizens, county board member and others. Key to the success of these workgroups will be the implementation of the many recommendations.
Late December, 2015. Nick Cochart, Algoma Public Schools Administrator and Kewaunee County Groundwater Task Force member, announces the beginning of construction of a new clean water kiosk on the grounds of the Algoma High School. Clean water is to be provided at no cost to Kewaunee County citizens who are living with unsafe wells.
