Six years ago, the United Nations officially recognized access to clean drinking water and sanitation as essential to the realization of all human rights. Many Americans do not spend much time thinking about basic human rights like the right to work, the right to food or the right to an education. We assume that because water is fundamental to our survival that its protection must be of the utmost importance to those who govern our towns, states and nation. Since the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972 this has largely been true with heavy investments in water infrastructure and stringent standards placed on water quality. However, many of our pipes and mains are nearing the end of their lives and as technological developments create new threats to our water we must elect leaders whom we trust to redouble efforts to ensure access to clean water for the many Wisconsinites who cannot take such a luxury for granted.
The organization tasked with safeguarding our water is Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which issues permits and oversees approximately 1,250 municipal wastewater treatment plants, industrial wastewater treatment facilities and large livestock farms known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Although its mission is to “protect and enhance our natural resources,” a report released in June 2016 by the Legislative Audit Bureau detailed the many ways in which the DNR has not upheld its responsibilities. For example, one-third of Kewaunee County residents’ wells do not meet safe drinking water standards. Nitrate levels are too high in wells used by 94,000 Wisconsin households. Furthermore, Waukesha has successfully petitioned to divert Great Lakes water because its own ground water has been so depleted and is contaminated with radium. Wisconsin’s lakes, streams, wetlands and coasts badly need protection, and yet a combination of funding cuts and staffing reductions has taken a severe toll on the DNR’s ability to defend our water resources.
The Legislative Audit Bureau’s 124-page report stated that the DNR’s pollutant regulators failed to follow their own policies regarding violators of water pollution laws more than 90 percent of the time. The agency’s inability to properly protect Wisconsin’s water has real consequences for its residents, particularly in the case of CAFOs, which can be linked to many of Wisconsin’s water concerns because of polluted runoff from manure, fertilizer and pesticides. Only 36 of 1,900 annual compliance reports from polluting CAFO’s were electronically recorded as received, and 41 incidents were discovered in which it took the DNR six or more years to renew expired 5-year pollution permits. Furthermore, 6.5 percent of CAFOs were inspected after their permits had already been reissued. As a result of lax regulations, residents of places like Kewaunee County have no options but to drink bottled water, purchase filtration systems, or install costly new wells. Moreover, this report is not the only documentation of the DNR’s problems. In July 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified 75 issues with state law and administrative rules; as of now, the DNR claims that only 38 of these issues have been addressed.
On July 28th, 2010, the United Nations explicitly stated that access to clean water is non-negotiable, and yet hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin’s residents continue to be affected by tainted water. The livelihood of our state and the wellbeing of our people are founded upon continuous access to clean and plentiful water, and, as such, last October the Midwest Environmental Advocates filed a petition on behalf of 16 Wisconsin residents asking for Corrective Action and the EPA to properly manage Wisconsin’s water, as required under the Clean Water Act and other federal laws. Since then Wisconsin’s Attorney General Brad Schimel has issued an opinion that restricts the DNR’s authority to properly consider the impacts of a project on our water resources. For these reasons, we are calling on the EPA to withdraw the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program delegation from the State of Wisconsin and review Wisconsin’s Safe Drinking Water program so that everyone can drink, use and enjoy clean water.