WATER use PERMITting
Subchapter I — General Provisions
NR 860.12 Responsible Parties and Eligible Permittees.
NR 860.13 Interim Approvals.
NR 860.14 Open Records Requests.
NR 860.15 Required Permit Conditions.
NR 860.16 Amendments and Transfers.
Subchapter II — General Water Use Permits
NR 860.21 General Water Use Permits.
NR 860.22 Application and Review Process for Notice of Coverage.
NR 860.23 Notice of Coverage Decisions.
NR 860.24 Modifications to the Withdrawal Amount — Notice of Coverage.
NR 860.25 Redetermination of Coverage.
Subchapter III — Individual Water Use Permits
NR 860.31 Application and Review Process for Individual Water Use Permits.
NR 860.32 Individual Water Use Permit Decisions.
NR 860.33 Modifications to the Withdrawal Amount — Individual Water Use Permits.
NR 860.34 Individual Water Use Permit Reissuance.
Subchapter IV — Public Participation
NR 860.41 Public Notice and Comment.
NR 860.42 Public Hearings.
NR 860.10
NR 860.10 Purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to implement s.
281.346 (4m),
(4s),
(5),
(5m),
(6), and
(9), Stats. This chapter establishes the process, requirements, and criteria for water use permitting.
NR 860.10 History
History: CR 10-109: cr.
Register September 2011 No. 669, eff. 10-1-11.
NR 860.11
NR 860.11 Definitions. In this chapter:
NR 860.11(1)
(1) “Baseline" means the amount of a preexisting withdrawal, as determined by the department under s.
281.346 (4e), Stats.
NR 860.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (e), Stats., defines “consumptive use" to mean “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of water that results in the loss of or failure to return some or all of the water to the basin from which the water is withdrawn due to evaporation, incorporation into products, or other processes."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 860.11(3)
(3) “Days" means calendar days unless otherwise specified.
NR 860.11(4)
(4) “Department" means the department of natural resources.
NR 860.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (je), Stats., defines “Great Lakes basin" to mean “the watershed of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River upstream from Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, within the jurisdiction of the parties."
NR 860.11 Note
Note: Section
NR 812.07 (68), Wis. Adm. Code, defines “one property" to mean “all contiguous land controlled by one owner, lessee, or any other person having a possessory interest. Lands under single ownership bisected by highways or railroad right-of-ways are considered contiguous."
NR 860.11(7)
(7) “Owner," for water supply systems other than public water supply, means a person who owns property on which a water supply system is located or proposed to be located or the designated representative of such a person. For public water supply, “owner" means a person who owns the public water supply or designated representative of such a person.
NR 860.11(8)
(8) “Permittee" means an owner that is issued a permit.
NR 860.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (nm), Stats., defines “person" to mean “an individual or other entity, including a government or a 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 860.11(10)
(10) “Preexisting withdrawal" means a withdrawal that started prior to December 8, 2008.
NR 860.11(11)
(11) “Property" has the same meaning as “one property," as specified in
sub. (6).
NR 860.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (pm), Stats., defines “public water supply" to mean “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 860.11(13)
(13) “Significant adverse environmental impact" means alteration of groundwater levels, groundwater discharge, surface water levels, surface water discharge, groundwater temperature, surface water temperature, groundwater chemistry, surface water chemistry, or other factors to the extent such alterations cause significant degradation of environmental quality including biological and ecological aspects of the affected water resource.
NR 860.11(14)
(14) “Source" means an individual location where water is withdrawn from groundwater or surface water, such as a well or surface water intake.
NR 860.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (wm), Stats., defines “water loss" to mean “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 860.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (wp), Stats., defines “water supply system", when not preceded by “public", to mean “one of the following: 1. Except as provided in subd. 2., the equipment handling water from the point of intake of the water to the first point at which the water is used. 2. For a system for providing a public water supply, the equipment from the point of intake of the water to the first point at which the water is distributed."
NR 860.11 Note
Note: The water supply system includes all points of intake of water into a water supply system.
NR 860.11 Note
Note: Section
NR 852.03 (29), Wis. Adm. Code, defines “water use intensity" to mean “a measure of water use per unit production, sales unit, or customer served."
NR 860.11 Note
Note: Section
281.01 (18), Stats., defines “waters of the state" to include “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 860.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (y), Stats., defines “withdraw" to mean “to take water from surface water or groundwater."
NR 860.11 Note
Note: Section
281.346 (1) (z), Stats., defines “withdrawal" to mean “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 860.11(21)
(21) “Withdrawal amount" means the permitted amount of a withdrawal in a notice of coverage under a general permit or an individual permit as specified by the department under s.
281.346 (4g),
(4s), or
(5), Stats. The withdrawal amount for an automatically issued notice of coverage under a general permit or an individual permit shall not be less than the baseline unless specifically requested by the owner.
NR 860.11 Note
Note: Section
281.34 (1) (h), Stats., defines “well" to mean “any drillhole or other excavation or opening deeper than it is wide that extends more than 10 feet below the ground surface and is constructed for the purpose of obtaining groundwater."
NR 860.11 History
History: CR 10-109: cr.
Register September 2011 No. 669, eff. 10-1-11.
NR 860.12
NR 860.12 Responsible Parties and Eligible Permittees. NR 860.12(1)(1) The owner is the person responsible for obtaining, modifying, terminating, and complying with notice of coverage under a general permit or with an individual permit.
NR 860.12(2)
(2) The department shall issue notice of coverage under a general permit or issue an individual permit only to the responsible party under
sub. (1).
NR 860.12 History
History: CR 10-109: cr.
Register September 2011 No. 669, eff. 10-1-11.
NR 860.13
NR 860.13 Interim Approvals. All interim approvals issued under s.
281.344 (5m), Stats., expire on December 8, 2011. Any person regulated under this chapter shall obtain notice of coverage under a general permit or an individual permit no later than December 7, 2011.
NR 860.13 History
History: CR 10-109: cr.
Register September 2011 No. 669, eff. 10-1-11.
NR 860.14(1)
(1) The locations of withdrawals are sensitive information that may impact domestic security.
NR 860.14(2)
(2) Open records requests received by the department under ss.
19.21 to
19.39, Stats., that request information on the locations of withdrawals may be subject to greater scrutiny by the department because of domestic security concerns, as allowed under s.
281.346 (3) (cm) and
(9) (e), Stats. The department may request all of the following with respect to open records requests seeking information on the locations of withdrawals, in order to address domestic security concerns:
NR 860.14(2)(b)
(b) The name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address of the requester and the company or organization that the requester represents.
NR 860.14(2)(d)
(d) The reason the information is requested and how it will be used.
NR 860.14(3)
(3) In considering the public's interest in domestic security when reviewing requests submitted under
sub. (2), the department may place conditions on the use of the information, or may provide the requested information in a different format, when necessary to protect the public's interest in domestic security.
NR 860.14 History
History: CR 10-109: cr.
Register September 2011 No. 669, eff. 10-1-11.
NR 860.15
NR 860.15 Required Permit Conditions. All general and individual water use permits issued by the department shall at a minimum contain all of the following conditions:
NR 860.15(1)
(1) The permittee shall comply with all conditions of the permit. Permit noncompliance is a violation of the permit and may be grounds for enforcement action, permit suspension or revocation, or denial of a redetermination or reissuance. If a permittee violates any terms of the permit, the permittee is subject to the penalties established in
ch. 281, Stats.
NR 860.15(2)
(2) The permit does not convey any property or water rights of any sort, or any exclusive privilege. The permit does not authorize any injury or damage to private property or any invasion of personal rights, or any infringement of federal, state, or local laws, rules, or regulations.
NR 860.15(3)
(3) The permittee shall allow an authorized representative of the department, upon presentation of credentials, to do all of the following:
NR 860.15(3)(a)
(a) Enter, upon reasonable notice, the owner's premises where a regulated withdrawal is located or conducted, or where records are required under the conditions of the permit.
