Kewaunee County farmers to pay for clean water
KEWAUNEE – A newly-formed group of farmers will buy and deliver clean, bottled water to families with contaminated drinking wells.
The nonprofit membership group Peninsula Pride Farms will also pay for well inspections and most of the cost of in-home water treatment systems for people whose well water tests positive for E. coli.
The emergency water service puts farmers on the front-line of addressing a groundwater pollution problem in Kewaunee County that some environmentalists blame on large-scale agriculture.
A scientific study released in December found 34 percent of wells tested in the county had unsafe levels of bacteria and nitrates. E. coli contamination affected about 2 percent of tested wells.
Intense debate over the source and extent of contamination came to a head last year when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency intervened and set up three work groups to study the issue and find potential solutions. One of the groups issued a report in June recommending farmers and other stakeholders make emergency water supplies available to people.
A final comprehensive report of all three work groups' recommendations is expected in November.
Farmers in the county responded to the recommendation by forming Peninsula Pride Farms, the nonprofit group aimed at promoting sustainable farming practices that can protect ground and surface water from contamination.
The group's free bottled water service should not be taken as an admission that farmers caused the widespread contamination, Peninsula Pride Farms President Don Niles said.
In fact, the DNR, Kewaunee County and Peninsula Pride Farms each signed a memorandum of understanding stating the program, dubbed Water Well, is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing by any party.
Several prominent farmers, including Niles, have previously acknowledged that agriculture plays a role in the contamination.
“Farmers by nature are action takers, not talkers. There’s been a lot of talk about water quality. Putting our brains together as farmers allowed us to take action that’s different than what has been done for decades,” said Niles, who also owns one of the county’s largest farms, Dairy Dreams.
In order to qualify for the free bottled water, homeowners must have their wells tested through the Kewaunee County Land and Water Department or a private, certified water testing lab.
First-time mothers will be contacted by the County Health Department and offered a chance to have their well water tested for free.
If the test shows E. coli in the water, the homeowners must report it to the county health department and contact Peninsula Pride Farms to schedule a well inspection and arrange for delivery of clean water for up to three months.
Peninsula Pride Farms will offer cost sharing on a water treatment system for any homeowners whose wells pass inspection and the E. coli problem can't be fixed.
The plan is meant as a stopgap measure to get people clean water while farmers and natural resources officials pursue long term solutions. Other initiatives include identifying soil depths, sinkholes and other direct conduits to groundwater to improve manure application plans.
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Well inspection reports done through this program will be shared with the county and DNR, providing them with new data to help identify sources of contamination, said Kewaunee County Conservationist Davina Bonness.
"When Peninsula Pride is going to provide bottled water, it's not going to stop there. The DNR and (county) are going to continue looking for the source (of contamination). It's going to be a great addition to helping us find the causes," Bonness said.
Kewaunee County Supervisor Lee Luft, chairman of the county groundwater task force, said the Water Well program is a good first step even though it doesn't provide assistance for the larger number of homes with unsafe levels of nitrates in their water.
"While here isn't going to be any claim of legal responsibility, I think it's an acknowledgment that agriculture does play a role in the quality of ground and surface water that we have. And they're willing to step forward and work to find solutions for that. I think that is very good," Luft said.
The Water Well program is also receiving praise from groups around the state.
The Nature Conservancy, a national environmental group with offices in Madison, said the program provides a new role for farmers "that is very much appreciated."
"It is through such collaboration that big changes can occur and differences overcome, with the outcome being a healthier landscape of people and nature as more actions are implemented," Director of Conservation Programs in Wisconsin Steve Richter wrote in a letter to Niles.
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