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