The Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association (WPVGA) applauds the governor’s signing of Senate Bill 76, the science-based water policy legislation sponsored by state Senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald and representative Gary Tauchen.
“Wisconsin farmers who rely on high-capacity wells to irrigate farmland and feed families across the globe applaud the governor’s actions,” says WPVGA executive director Tamas Houlihan. “We appreciate the leadership provided by Sen. Fitzgerald and Rep.Tauchen as well as the efforts of Sen. Pat Testin and Rep. Scott Krug, who worked hard to provide certainty for farmers who rely on the ability to utilize irrigation to grow nutritious vegetables in Wisconsin.”
The new law maintains Wisconsin’s stringent environmental requirements and well construction standards for repaired, replaced and reconstructed wells. The law also importantly requires the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to conduct a critical study of high-capacity wells and their potential impacts on surface waters in areas in the Central Sands region of Wisconsin.
“Similar to the study completed on the Little Plover River, the WPVGA supports sound science in working out practical solutions,” Houlihan says. “We believe that these studies are critical to understanding the interaction between groundwater and surface water. We support this scientific work that will generate reliable data upon which any necessary future regulations can be developed.”
Houlihan says he and members of the WPVGA remain committed to a healthy environment and a healthy agricultural economy.
“It’s not an either/or equation,” he says. “Our members are committed to advancing best practices when it comes to environmental stewardship and conservation because it is the right thing to do, and because it is good business. The certainty provided by the new law will help our growers continue to invest in new technologies and new techniques to keep our land and water safe and abundant.”
The new law requires any new or existing well that is repaired, replaced or transferred in a designated study area to have a water meter and report water usage using that meter. Importantly, all high-capacity wells already report water usage to the DNR annually in March. This new metering requirement is expensive, but it may assist with the generation of more precise data in the study areas.