Karst
Explore the wonders of our unique underground world!
Through advocacy and educational events, as well as forays into literature, theater, and art, Crawford Stewardship raises the level of knowledge and understanding of karst hydrogeology, improves the publicly available data, and uses this data to inform public decision-making processes from the hyper-local to the state level.
Our work:
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Raising public awareness of the unique hydrogeological complexity and sensitivity of the Driftless region.
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Assembling all available data on karst geology and hydrology, with a focus on our region.
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Creating new data on local groundwater susceptibility
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Engaging the public through immersive & participatory education and citizen science.
Karst Geology
The Driftless Area of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois is made up of bedrock of dolomite and limestone which is continually dissolved by water. The area is characterized by connected cracks and layers between rocks that easily transport water. Sinkholes, shallow soils, springs, and disappearing streams are found in Karst regions. This beautiful geology lends itself to vulnerability of surface pollutants reaching groundwater. And once polluted, the water of our area would be polluted virtually forever.
CSP sponsors Karst Identification Workshops led by Dr. Kelvin Rodolfo of Viroqua, WI. He is Professor Emeritus of the University of Illinois at Chicago. These popular events offer insight and understanding of our local landscape and include field trips to view area karstic features. Our work so far at citizen science events can be observed in the interactive map above (or at this link). Thank you to all who volunteered at our karst citizen science events! This is key in getting our government institutions to recognize the sensitivity of our landscape and watersheds.
Listen to “A Leaky System” about karst. CSP Program Coordinator Forest Jahnke is among interviewees in this podcast.
Here’s a video of Eric Carson at Kickapoo Valley Reserve, giving an in-depth review of the geology of the local area.
Drinking Water
Well testing & education campaign - 2019
Driftless Area Water Study
Until recent years, less than 1% of all wells in Crawford and neighboring counties had been tested: we bragged about our water but did not know what our drinking water quality really was. In 2019 Crawford Stewardship Project (and independently, the Tainter Creek Farmer-Led Watershed Council) decided to find out and launched our Groundwater Testing and Education Campaign. CSP tested 58 wells throughout the county but knew this was not enough and that we needed more official partners in this project.
In 2020, despite Covid restrictions, CSP launched the Driftless Area Water Study (DAWS) along with core partners the Crawford, Richland, and Vernon County Conservation and Health Departments, and with additional input and support from UW Extension, WI Farm Bureau, and other local organizations. Since the first round of nearly 400 well tests, there have been several more coordinated and subsidised testing cycles among our three counties, each one adding valuable data, to the point that we now have enough tests to make some claims, if vague, about the quality of our drinking water!
Drinking water quality in our three counties is not worse than the state average, but it is also not notably any better as a whole. There are some impacted areas, and some wells were found to contain e-coli and several were well above the health standard for nitrates, but the majority of people in the area are drinking safe water, and many do indeed still have some of the best water in the world flowing from the tap.
Some trends are becoming visible when comparing land use to drinking water quality, confirming, as has been shown in broader studies, that risk for nitrate contamination increases with proximity to row-crops and manure lagoons. [citation needed]
WEAL drinking water map link
The greatest finding is that we are only scratching the surface…
Test your well!
Private well testing info…
Karst maps
Karst fact sheets
Karst posters