News

Wisconsin water use up significantly in 2012

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has released its 2012 Expanded Withdrawal Summary for Water Use in the state. The report reflects just how much the drought impacted total surface and groundwater withdrawal last year. Measuring sources capable of withdrawing 100,000 gallons per day or more, statewide withdrawals exceeded 2.25 trillion gallons in 2012 up 4.8 percent from 2011.

1.9 trillion gallons was surface water pulled from 995 sources up about 1 percent from 2011. 1.64 trillion gallons of that or about 83.3 percent is used by power production facilities along Lake Michigan and the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers. Another 5.2 percent is used in paper production, 5.2 percent is for municipal water supplies and 4.9 percent goes to cranberry production. Much more of the surface water comes from the Great Lakes Basin than from the Mississippi River Basin in Wisconsin.

There were 292 billion gallons of groundwater pulled from 13,191 high capacity wells in Wisconsin in 2012. 135 billion gallons or 46 percent of that water was for agricultural irrigation, up 83 percent from the 74 billion gallons used for agriculture in 2011. The three biggest users were in the Central Sands area: Portage, Adams and Waushara Counties with increases of 65 percent, 79 percent and 68 percent respectively compared to 2011.

Municipal water systems used 99 billion gallons or 34 percent of the groundwater drawn in the state last year. Normally municipal use is the largest groundwater user in the state but increases were limited as some municipalities implemented conservation practices during the drought.

While water use for agricultural irrigation jumped 83.3 percent from 2011 to 2012, cranberry use shot-up 122.2 percent as the unseasonably warm weather in March forced growers to flood the beds in hope of keeping the plants from coming to life too early. More water was also needed later in the summer as the drought depleted reservoirs.

Dairy farm use was up 34 percent last year and golf course use increased 87.3 percent from 2011.

We did see water use declines in industrial, mining, commercial, aquaculture and power generation applications.