Wednesday, April 8, 2015

KEWAUNEE COUNTY, WISCONSIN VOTERS APPROVE COUNTY-WIDE GROUNDWATER ORDINANCE. FARMERS WILL HAVE LESS CONTROL OVER WHEN AND WHERE THEY CAN SPREAD MANURE AND NUTRIENTS.




APRIL 8, 2015

KEWAUNEE COUNTY, WISCONSIN

The vote is in — farmers in Kewaunee County will have less control over when and where they can spread manure and nutrients.

“[Citizens] want to protect this groundwater resource,” says Kewaunee County Conservationist Davina Bonness. “[Citizens are] helping us move forward.”

Bonness has been testing area water wells trying to figure out which ones are the most contaminated from run-off.

“The ordinance will impact all the areas in the red and yellow through Kewaunee County,” she said while showing Action 2 News a map showing land in the county with the least amount of soil above the bedrock.

In areas with the lowest soils depth, Bonness found the highest levels of water contamination.

As Action 2 News has shown you, nearly 30 percent of county water wells that were tested showed contaminated and are not safe to drink.

The county passed an ordinance last year creating regulations on when and where farmers can spread manure and other waste.

Yesterday, voters approved the ordinance county-wide.

“Now that we know it passed in every township, every city and every village, we’ll start doing the maps,” Bonness says. She explained those maps would be used to determine what land in the county will be impacted by the ordinance. 

They’ll use that information to determine what fields farmers cannot spread on from January 1st through April 15th.

“We’re going to be taking manure off the field, and nutrients, and all waste off the fields when it’s frozen, and snow covered, and when it’s so saturated from melting that we can take that waste and put it on during a different part of the year,” she says.

In addition to changing when and where they treat their crops some farmers will have to find different ways to store manure.

However, Bonness assures the burden won’t rest solely on the shoulders of farmers. The county says it will help them find the money to properly store the waste by applying for cost-sharing grants.

Some farmers say the regulations will make it harder on them. They need manure to grow their crops. They say nature usually determines when they can spread manure, not the government.

Aerica Bjurstrom with the Kewaunee County UW Extension sees things differently.

“We hope this will make an example,” she says. “People will take a look at what we’re doing here and maybe follow suit in their counties as well.”
Source:wbay.com