NR 851.71 Receipt of application and preliminary review.
NR 851.72 Public notice and comment.
NR 851.73 Notice to Great Lakes council and regional body.
NR 851.74 Tribal notice and consultation.
NR 851.75 Public hearings.
NR 851.76 Open records requests.
NR 851.10
NR 851.10 Purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to establish an application process, requirements, and department review procedures related to diversions of Great Lakes basin water, in compliance with ss.
281.343 and
281.346, Stats., and consistent with the requirements of the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact.
NR 851.10 History
History: CR 23-050: cr. Register June 2024 No. 822, eff. 7-1-24. NR 851.11
NR 851.11 Definitions. In this chapter:
NR 851.11(1)
(1) “
Applicant” means a person who submits an application for a diversion approval.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (d), Stats., reads as follows: “Community within a straddling county” means any city, village, or town that is not a straddling community and that is located outside the Great Lakes basin but wholly within a county that lies partly within the Great Lakes basin.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (e), Stats., reads as follows: “Consumptive use” means a use of water that results in the loss of or failure to return some or all of the water to the basin from which the water is withdrawn due to evaporation, incorporation into products, or other processes.
NR 851.11(3m)
(3m) “Department” means the department of natural resources.
NR 851.11(4)
(4) “
Diversion” has the meaning given in s.
281.346 (1) (h), Stats. “Diversion” includes diversions to straddling communities, diversions to communities within a straddling county and intrabasin transfers.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (h), Stats., reads as follows: “Diversion” means a transfer of water from the Great Lakes basin into a watershed outside the Great Lakes basin, or from the watershed of one of the Great Lakes into that of another, by any means of transfer, including a pipeline, canal, tunnel, aqueduct, channel, modification of the direction of a water course, tanker ship, tanker truck, or rail tanker except that “diversion” does not include any of the following:
NR 851.11 Note
1. The transfer of a product produced in the Great Lakes basin or in the watershed of one of the Great Lakes, using waters of the Great Lakes basin, out of the Great Lakes basin or out of the watershed.
NR 851.11 Note
2. The transmission of water within a line that extends outside of the Great Lakes basin as it conveys water from one point to another within the Great Lakes basin if no water is used outside of the Great Lakes basin.
NR 851.11 Note
3. The transfer of bottled water from the Great Lakes basin in containers of 5.7 gallons or less.
NR 851.11(5)
(5) “
Diversion area” means the area outside the Great Lakes basin that is approved by the department to be served water from the Great Lakes basin.
NR 851.11(6)
(6) “
Great Lakes basin” means the watershed of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River upstream from Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, within the jurisdiction of the parties. The boundary of the Great Lakes basin is derived from the subbasin (8-digit) 4th level hydrologic units from the digital Watershed Boundary Dataset for the State of Wisconsin, consisting of geo-referenced digital data and associated attributes created in accordance with the “FGDC Proposal, Version 1.0 - Federal Standards for Delineation of Hydrologic Unit Boundaries 3/01/02.”
NR 851.11 Note
Note: A copy of the Great Lakes basin boundary dataset is available as the `Major Basins' layer in the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources GIS Open Data Portal, available at
https://data-wi-dnr.opendata.arcgis.com.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (jj), Stats., reads as follows: “Great Lakes council” means the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Council, created under s.
281.343 (2) (a).
NR 851.11 Note
Note: The Great Lakes council is comprised of the Great Lake Governors, or their designees, who consult and coordinate with the Premiers of Ontario, Quebec, and the Great-Lakes St. Lawrence River Water Resources Regional Body to protect the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (jm), Stats., reads as follows: “Intrabasin transfer” means the transfer of water from the watershed of one of the Great Lakes into the watershed of another of the Great Lakes.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (nm), Stats., reads as follows: Notwithstanding s.
281.01 (9), “Person” means an individual or other entity, including a government or nongovernmental organization, including any scientific, professional, business, nonprofit, or public interest organization or association that is neither affiliated with nor under the direction of a government.
NR 851.11(10)
(10) “Preexisting diversion” means a diversion of water from the Great Lakes basin into a watershed outside of the Great Lakes basin that existed prior to the ratification of the Great Lakes Compact on December 8, 2008, and received an approval from the department under s.
281.344 (3m) or
(4), Stats.
NR 851.11(11)
(11) “Proposal” means a request for a new or increased diversion of Great Lakes water.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (pm), Stats., reads as follows: “Public water supply” means water distributed to the public through a physically connected system of treatment, storage, and distribution facilities that serve a group of largely residential customers and that may also serve industrial, commercial, and other institutional customers.
NR 851.11(13)
(13) “Public water supply system” means a physically connected system of treatment, storage, and distribution facilities that distributes public water supply that is treated for human consumption, and that is owned by a city, village, county, town, town sanitary district, utility district, public inland lake and rehabilitation district, or municipal water district, joint local water authorities, or a privately owned water utility serving any of these entities.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (ps), Stats., reads as follows: “Reasonable water supply alternative” means a water supply alternative that is similar in cost to, and as environmentally sustainable and protective of public health as, the proposed new or increased diversion and that does not have a greater adverse environmental impact than the proposed new or increased diversion.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (q), Stats., reads as follows: “Regional body” means the body consisting of the governors of the parties and the premiers of Ontario and Quebec, Canada, or their designees as established by the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
NR 110.03 (29t) reads as follows: “Sewer service area” means that area served or anticipated to be served by a sewage collection system.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (r), Stats., reads as follows: “Source watershed" means the watershed from which a withdrawal originates. If water is withdrawn directly from a Great Lake or from the St. Lawrence River, then the source watershed is the watershed of that Great Lake or the watershed of the St. Lawrence River, respectively. If water is withdrawn from the watershed of a stream that is a direct tributary to a Great Lake or a direct tributary to the St. Lawrence River, then the source watershed is the watershed of that Great Lake or the watershed of the St. Lawrence River, respectively.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (t), Stats., reads as follows: “Straddling community” means any city, village, or town that, based on its boundary existing as of the compact's effective date [December 8, 2008], is partly within the Great Lakes basin or partly within the watersheds of 2 of the Great Lakes and that is wholly within any county that lies partly or completely within the Great Lakes basin.
NR 851.11(19)(b)
(b) A county's boundaries as of December 13, 2005, shall be used to determine whether the county is a straddling county.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (tm), Stats., reads as follows: “Straddling county” means a county that lies partly within the Great Lakes basin.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (u), Stats., reads as follows: “Technical review” means a thorough analysis and evaluation conducted to determine whether a proposal that is subject to regional review under this section meets the criteria for approval under [s.
281.346 (4),
(5), or
(6), Stats].
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (wm), Stats., reads as follows: “Water loss” means the amount of water that is withheld from or not returned to the basin from which it is withdrawn as a result of a diversion or consumptive use or both.
NR 851.11(22)
(22) “Water supply service area” means an area in which the public water supply system provides water or may provide water to the public during the planning period covered by the water supply service area plan.
NR 851.11(23)
(23) “Water supply service area plan” means a document developed in compliance with s.
281.348, Stats., and ch.
NR 854.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.01 (18), Stats., reads as follows: “Waters of the state” includes those portions of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior within the boundaries of this state, and all lakes, bays, rivers, streams, springs, ponds, wells, impounding reservoirs, marshes, watercourses, drainage systems and other surface water or groundwater, natural or artificial, public or private, within this state or its jurisdiction.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (y), Stats., reads as follows: “Withdraw” means to take water from surface water or groundwater.
NR 851.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (z), Stats., reads as follows: “Withdrawal” means the taking of water from surface water or groundwater, including the taking of surface water or groundwater for the purpose of bottling the water.
NR 851.11 History
History: CR 23-050: cr. Register June 2024 No. 822, eff. 7-1-24; (3) renumbered to (3m) under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 1., Stats., and correction in (13) made under s. 35.17, Stats., Register June 2024 No. 822. NR 851.12
NR 851.12 Prohibitions. No person may begin a new diversion or increase the amount of a diversion or preexisting diversion over the amount specified in an approval, except as authorized under s.
281.346 (4) (c),
(d), or
(e), Stats., and this chapter.
NR 851.12 History
History: CR 23-050: cr. Register June 2024 No. 822, eff. 7-1-24. NR 851.13(1)(1)
Persons responsible for obtaining, requesting amendment, and complying with the terms of a diversion approval are as follows:
NR 851.13(1)(a)
(a) For a diversion to a straddling community or a diversion to a community in a straddling county, the person who owns or operates the public water supply system that receives or would receive water diverted from the Great Lakes basin.
NR 851.13(1)(b)
(b) For intrabasin transfers, the person who transfers the Great Lakes water.
NR 851.13(1)(c)
(c) For preexisting diversion approvals, the person named on the preexisting approval, or the person the department has approved for a transfer of the preexisting approval.
NR 851.13(2)
(2) The department may issue a diversion approval for a straddling community or a community in a straddling county only to the person who owns and operates a public water supply system.
NR 851.13(3)
(3) Operators of 2 or more public water supply systems may submit a joint application under subch.
II or
IV.
NR 851.13(4)
(4) The department may provide and require the use of forms for purposes of applying for a diversion or for annual reporting purposes.
NR 851.13 History
History: CR 23-050: cr. Register June 2024 No. 822, eff. 7-1-24. NR 851.14(1)(1)
An applicant shall pay to the department a review fee of $5,000 at the time the applicant submits the application.
NR 851.14(2)
(2) The department may not review an application under this chapter until the applicant submits the review fee.
NR 851.14(3)
(3) If the application requires review by the Great Lakes council or regional body, the applicant shall pay to the department an amount equal to any fees imposed on the state by the Great Lakes council or regional body.
NR 851.14 History
History: CR 23-050: cr. Register June 2024 No. 822, eff. 7-1-24. NR 851.15
NR 851.15 Enforcement. A person violating this chapter or an approval under this chapter may be subject to penalties specified under s.
281.346 (14), Stats., including all of the following:
NR 851.15(5)
(5) Orders that the person take or refrain from taking any action necessary to eliminate or minimize any environmental damage caused by the violation.
NR 851.15 History
History: CR 23-050: cr. Register June 2024 No. 822, eff. 7-1-24.
