281.34
281.34
Groundwater withdrawals. 281.34(1)(a)
(a) "Groundwater protection area" means an area within 1,200 feet of any of the following:
281.34(1)(a)1.
1. An outstanding resource water identified under
s. 281.15 that is not a trout stream.
281.34(1)(a)2.
2. An exceptional resource water identified under
s. 281.15 that is not a trout stream.
281.34(1)(a)3.
3. A class I, class II, or class III trout stream, other than a class I, class II, or class III trout stream that is a farm drainage ditch with no prior stream history, as identified under
sub. (8) (a).
281.34(1)(b)
(b) "High capacity well" means a well that, together with all other wells on the same property, has a capacity of more than 100,000 gallons per day.
281.34(1)(c)
(c) "Local governmental unit" means a city, village, town, county, town sanitary district, utility district under
s. 66.0827 that provides water, public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district that has town sanitary district powers under
s. 33.22 (3), joint local water authority created under
s. 66.0823, or municipal water district under
s. 198.22.
281.34(1)(d)
(d) "Owner" means a person who owns property on which a well is located or proposed to be located or the designated representative of such a person.
281.34(1)(e)
(e) "Potentiometric surface" means a measure of pressure of groundwater in an aquifer based on the level to which groundwater will rise in a well placed in the aquifer.
281.34(1)(f)
(f) "Spring" means an area of concentrated groundwater discharge occurring at the surface of the land that results in a flow of at least one cubic foot per second at least 80 percent of the time.
281.34(1)(g)
(g) "Water loss" means a loss of water from the basin from which it is withdrawn as a result of interbasin diversion or consumptive use or both.
281.34(1)(h)
(h) "Well" means 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.
281.34(2)
(2) Approval required for high capacity wells. An owner shall apply to the department for approval before construction of a high capacity well begins. No person may construct or withdraw water from a high capacity well without the approval of the department under this section or under s.
281.17 (1), 2001 stats. An owner applying for approval under this subsection shall pay a fee of $500.
281.34(2m)
(2m) Temporary dewatering wells. The department shall issue a single approval under
sub. (2) for all high capacity wells constructed for one project, as determined by the department, for temporary dewatering of a construction site, including a construction site for a building, road, or utility. The department shall provide for amendments to a project under this subsection. A person applying for approval of high capacity wells for a project under this subsection is only required to pay one $500 fee.
281.34(3)
(3) Notification required for other wells. An owner shall notify the department of the location of a well that is not a high capacity well before construction of the well begins. An owner notifying the department under this subsection shall pay a fee of $50.
281.34(4)(a)(a) The department shall review an application for approval of any of the following using the environmental review process in its rules promulgated under
s. 1.11:
281.34(4)(a)1.
1. A high capacity well that is located in a groundwater protection area.
281.34(4)(a)2.
2. A high capacity well with a water loss of more than 95 percent of the amount of water withdrawn.
281.34(4)(a)3.
3. A high capacity well that may have a significant environmental impact on a spring.
281.34(4)(b)
(b) If, under
sub. (5) (b),
(c), or
(d), the department requests an environmental impact report under
s. 23.11 (5) for a proposed high capacity well, the department may only request information in that report that relates to the decisions that the department makes under this section related to the proposed high capacity well.
281.34(5)
(5) Standards and conditions for approval. 281.34(5)(a)(a)
Public water supply. If the department determines that a proposed high capacity well may impair the water supply of a public utility engaged in furnishing water to or for the public, the department may not approve the high capacity well unless it is able to include and includes in the approval conditions, which may include conditions as to location, depth, pumping capacity, rate of flow, and ultimate use, that will ensure that the water supply of the public utility will not be impaired.
281.34(5)(b)1.1. Except as provided in
subd. 2., if the department determines, under the environmental review process in
sub. (4), that an environmental impact report under
s. 23.11 (5) must be prepared for a proposed high capacity well located in a groundwater protection area, the department may not approve the high capacity well unless it is able to include and includes in the approval conditions, which may include conditions as to location, depth, pumping capacity, rate of flow, and ultimate use, that ensure that the high capacity well does not cause significant environmental impact.
281.34(5)(b)2.
2. Subdivision 1. does not apply to a proposed high capacity well that is located in a groundwater protection area and that is a water supply for a public utility engaged in supplying water to or for the public, if the department determines that there is no other reasonable alternative location for a well and is able to include and includes in the approval conditions, which may include conditions as to location, depth, pumping capacity, rate of flow, and ultimate use, that ensure that the environmental impact of the well is balanced by the public benefit of the well related to public health and safety.
281.34(5)(c)
(c)
High water loss. If the department determines, under the environmental review process in
sub. (4), that an environmental impact report under
s. 23.11 (5) must be prepared for a proposed high capacity well with a water loss of more than 95 percent of the amount of water withdrawn, the department may not approve the high capacity well unless it is able to include and includes in the approval conditions, which may include conditions as to location, depth, pumping capacity, rate of flow, and ultimate use, that ensure that the high capacity well does not cause significant environmental impact.
281.34(5)(d)1.1. Except as provided in
subd. 2., if the department determines, under the environmental review process in
sub. (4), that an environmental impact report under
s. 23.11 (5) must be prepared for a proposed high capacity well that may have a significant environmental impact on a spring, the department may not approve the high capacity well unless it is able to include and includes in the approval conditions, which may include conditions as to location, depth, pumping capacity, rate of flow, and ultimate use, that ensure that the high capacity well does not cause significant environmental impact.
281.34(5)(d)2.
2. Subdivision 1. does not apply to a proposed high capacity well that may have a significant environmental impact on a spring and that is a water supply for a public utility engaged in supplying water to or for the public, if the department determines that there is no other reasonable alternative location for a well and is able to include and includes in the approval conditions, which may include conditions as to location, depth, pumping capacity, rate of flow, and ultimate use, that ensure that the environmental impact of the well is balanced by the public benefit of the well related to public health and safety.
281.34(5)(e)1.1. If
s. 281.35 applies to a proposed high capacity well, the department shall include in the approval conditions that ensure that the high capacity well complies with
s. 281.35.
281.34(5)(e)2.
2. The department shall include in the approval for each high capacity well requirements that the owner identify the location of the high capacity well and submit an annual pumping report.
281.34(6)
(6) Preexisting high capacity wells. 281.34(6)(a)(a) The owner of a high capacity well for which the department issued an approval under s.
281.17 (1), 2001 stats., shall provide to the department information concerning the location of the well and an annual pumping report.
281.34(6)(b)
(b) The department shall promulgate rules specifying the date and method by which owners of high capacity wells shall comply with
par. (a).
281.34(7)
(7) Modifying and rescinding approvals for high capacity wells. The approval of a high capacity well issued under this section or under s.
281.17 (1), 2001 stats., remains in effect unless the department modifies or rescinds the approval because the high capacity well or the use of the high capacity well is not in conformance with standards or conditions applicable to the approval of the high capacity well.
281.34(8)(a)(a) The department shall promulgate rules identifying class I, class II, and class III trout streams for the purposes of this section. The department shall identify as a class I trout stream a stream or portion of a stream with a self-sustaining population of trout. The department shall identify as a class II trout stream a stream or portion of a stream that contains a population of trout made up of one or more age groups, above the age one year, in sufficient numbers to indicate substantial survival from one year to the next but in which stocking is necessary to fully utilize the available trout habitat or to sustain the fishery. The department shall identify as a class III trout stream a stream or portion of a stream that has marginal trout habitat with no natural reproduction of trout occurring, requiring annual stocking of trout to provide trout fishing, and generally without carryover of trout from one year to the next. In the rules under this paragraph, the department shall identify any class I, class II, or class III trout stream that is a farm drainage ditch with no prior stream history.
281.34(8)(b)
(b) The department shall create accurate images of groundwater protection areas.
281.34(8)(c)
(c) A person who proposes to construct a high capacity well may request the department to determine whether the proposed location of the high capacity well is within a groundwater protection area.
281.34(8)(d)
(d) The department shall administer a program to mitigate the effects of wells constructed before May 7, 2004, that are located in groundwater protection areas. Mitigation may include abandonment of wells and replacement of wells, if necessary, and management strategies. Under the mitigation program, the department may order the owner of a well constructed before May 7, 2004, that is located in a groundwater protection area to undertake mitigation but only if the department provides funding for the full cost of the mitigation, except that full funding is not required if the department is authorized under
ch. 280 to require the well to be abandoned because of issues regarding public health.
281.34(9)(a)(a) The department shall, by rule, designate 2 groundwater management areas including and surrounding Brown County and Waukesha County consisting of the entire area of each city, village, and town at least a portion of which is within the area in which, on May 7, 2004, the groundwater potentiometric surface has been reduced 150 feet or more from the level at which the potentiometric surface would be if no groundwater had been pumped.
281.34(9)(b)
(b) The department shall assist local governmental units and regional planning commissions in groundwater management areas designated under
par. (a) by providing advice, incentives, and funding for research and planning related to groundwater management.
281.34(9)(d)
(d) If the department promulgates rules under
par. (c) and the rules require mitigation in the same or a similar manner as under
sub. (8) (d), the department may not require mitigation for a well under the rules unless the department provides funding for the full cost of the mitigation, except that full funding is not required if the department is authorized under
ch. 280 to require the well to be abandoned because of issues regarding public health.
281.34(10)
(10) Research and monitoring. To aid in the administration of this section the department shall, with the advice of the groundwater coordinating council, conduct monitoring and research related to all of the following:
281.34 History
History: 2003 a. 310.
281.35
281.35
Water resources conservation and management. 281.35(1)(b)
(b) "Authorized base level of water loss" means any of the following:
281.35(1)(b)1.
1. The maximum 30-day average water loss authorized as a condition of an approval.
281.35(1)(b)3.
3. If there is no water loss from an existing withdrawal, zero gallons per day.
281.35(1)(c)
(c) "Consumptive use" means a use of waters of the state, other than an interbasin diversion, that results in a failure to return any or all of the water to the basin from which it is withdrawn. "Consumptive uses" include, but are not limited to, evaporation and incorporation of water into a product or agricultural crop.
281.35(1)(d)
(d) "Great Lakes basin" means the watershed of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River upstream from Trois Rivieres, Quebec.
281.35(1)(e)
(e) "Great Lakes charter" means the document establishing the principles for the cooperative management of Great Lakes water resources, signed by the governors and premiers of the Great Lakes region on February 11, 1985.
281.35(1)(f)
(f) "Great Lakes region" means the geographic region composed of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, Canada.
281.35(1)(g)
(g) "Interbasin diversion" means a transfer of the waters of the state from either the Great Lakes basin or the upper Mississippi River basin to any other basin.
281.35(1)(h)
(h) "International joint commission" means the commission established by the boundary water agreement of 1909 between the United States and Canada.
281.35(1)(i)
(i) "Person" has the meaning given in
s. 281.01 (9) and also includes special purpose districts established under
s. 66.0827, other states and provinces and political subdivisions of other states and provinces.
281.35(1)(j)
(j) "Upper Mississippi River basin" means the watershed of the Mississippi River upstream from Cairo, Illinois.
281.35(1)(k)
(k) "Upper Mississippi River region" means the geographic region composed of the states of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.
281.35(1)(L)
(L) "Water loss" means a loss of water from the basin from which it is withdrawn as a result of interbasin diversion or consumptive use or both.
281.35(1)(m)
(m) "Withdrawal" means the removal or taking of water from the waters of the state.
281.35(2)
(2) Aggregation of multiple withdrawals. 281.35(2)(a)(a) In calculating the total amount of an existing or proposed withdrawal for purposes of determining the applicability of
sub. (3), a person shall include all separate withdrawals which the person makes or proposes to make for a single use or for related uses.
281.35(2)(b)
(b) In calculating the total amount of an existing or proposed water loss for purposes of determining the applicability of
sub. (4), a person shall include all separate interbasin diversions and consumptive uses, or combinations thereof, which the person makes or proposes to make for a single use or for related uses.
281.35(3)(a)1.1. Except as provided in
par. (b), any person who, on January 1, 1986, is making a withdrawal averaging more than 100,000 gallons per day in any 30-day period shall register the withdrawal with the department before July 1, 1987.
281.35(3)(a)2.
2. Except as provided in
par. (b), any person who, on or after January 1, 1986, proposes to begin a withdrawal that will average more than 100,000 gallons per day in any 30-day period shall register the proposed withdrawal with the department.
281.35(3)(am)
(am) A registration under
par. (a) shall contain a statement of and supporting documentation for all of the following:
281.35(3)(am)3.
3. The location and nature of the proposed or existing water use.
281.35(3)(am)4.
4. The actual or estimated average annual and monthly volumes and rates of withdrawal.
281.35(3)(am)5.
5. The actual or estimated average annual and monthly volumes and rates of water loss from the withdrawal.
281.35(3)(b)1.
1. A person making a withdrawal who has been issued an approval and, as a condition of the approval, is reporting the volume and rate of withdrawal and, if applicable, the volume and rate of water loss from the withdrawal to the department or, if the person is a public utility, to the public service commission.
281.35(3)(b)2.
2. A person who is required to comply with
sub. (4) before beginning the proposed withdrawal.
281.35(3)(b)3.
3. A person holding a permit under
s. 283.31 or the federal water pollution control act, as amended,
33 USC 1251 to
1376, for whom the department has established a water loss coefficient, based on flow diagrams and other water use information provided by the permittee, that the department uses to calculate the permittee's water loss.
281.35(3)(c)
(c) Each person who registers a withdrawal under
par. (a) shall report the volume and rate of withdrawal and, if applicable, the volume and rate of water loss from the withdrawal to the department in the form and at the times required by the department.
