State Geologist and Director of the Wisconsin Geological & Natural History Survey: Ken Bradbury presents preliminary results of the Southwest Wisconsin Groundwater and Geological Study (SWIGG) to the State (DATCP) Land & Water Conservation Board. 

Crawford Stewardship Project staff attended the State Land and Water Conservation Board meeting in Madison last week.

Program Coordinator Forest Jahnke spoke during the public comment period about the work CSP has been doing in educating our community and public officials on our sensitive regional karstic hydrogeology and work to protect our surface and groundwater. Along with, CSP’s current Drinking Water Education and Testing Program in Crawford County, and the Tainter Creek Farmer-Led Watershed Council’s initial work, we urge the state and county to begin improving our embarrassing lack of well testing data.

With “groundwater” as the top priority in the Crawford County Comprehensive Plan, we are working for all of karstic Wisconsin to receive not only help studying our groundwater contamination and susceptibility, but immediate protection of our drinking water resources before the problems we are beginning to see become unmanageable!

Preliminary results from the limited testing done in SW WI shows drinking water contamination from nitrates and bacteria. We need proactive protections of our drinking water, while we do the work to generate additional hydro-geological data. We are talking about impacts to health and welfare right now that will not be studied away. We have spoken with many of the county conservationists in southwest Wisconsin about these issues, and there is a united need for additional funds and support for our counties to focus on this priority. Now is the time to work together to ensure our rights to clean drinking water can be obtained and sustained!