Marathon County executive committee reviews draft chapters on water, economy, recreation and intergovernmental cooperation

Marathon County Executive Committee members on Wednesday reviewed draft updates to chapters 6 (water resources), 10 (education, workforce and economic development), 11 (recreation, tourism and natural resources) and 12 (intergovernmental cooperation) of the county’s comprehensive plan and discussed follow-up data collection and policy language.

The briefing from county planning staff focused first on groundwater sampling results and public-health implications, then moved to economic and tourism strategy, trails and park land priorities, and coordination with state and federal entities.

Laurie Kimmons, CPZ staff, said the water-resources chapter will include new groundwater data from the county’s 2024 well-sampling program and that the draft shows lead detected in initial tests in 15 percent of samples. "In our follow-up testing, we actually found that was predominantly related to plumbing," Kimmons said, adding that nitrate contamination is appearing in additional nearby wells and that the share of wells with elevated nitrate "will end up being higher" after more sampling. Kimmons also said the chapter will add material on stormwater and salt-reduction efforts, preparedness for contamination or natural…