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County planners present water-resources chapter; well sampling finds plumbing-linked lead and emerging nitrate concerns
Summary
Marathon County staff reviewed Chapter 6 of the comprehensive plan, reporting well-sample results that showed lead in 15% of samples—primarily linked to household plumbing—and evidence of widespread nitrate contamination that may rise with further sampling. PFAS and testing funding were also discussed.
Planning staff presented Chapter 6 (Water Resources) of Marathon County's comprehensive plan draft and highlighted preliminary results from last year's private-well sampling.
Laurie Kimmons of CPZ said the county's initial well-sample snapshot found lead detected in 15% of tested wells but that follow-up testing indicated the lead detections were often related to household plumbing rather than source water. "Lead came back as a contaminant in 15% of those samples," Kimmons said. "But in our follow-up testing, we actually found that was predominantly related to plumbing." She said staff are encouraging homeowners to test again and noted ongoing groundwater data analysis.
Kimmons said nitrate detections are also an emerging concern. "We are thinking possibly that number of 46%... will end up being higher, I should say, once we do additional sampling," she said, referring to early nitrate findings.
Discussion addressed PFAS testing and funding. Jeff Pritchard of CPZ noted that municipalities with public water supplies are required to test and report PFAS results but that private-well owners face limited funding options. "Municipalities that have a power supply for the general public, they're required to test for PFAS, and they report that," Pritchard said. Supervisor John Robinson added that state-level discussions and prior ARPA earmarks have considered funding private-well sampling and that proposals—including a $125,000,000 trust fund discussed in Madison—have been raised but were not part of the current budget. "None of them are in the budget moving forward at this time, but it might be something we might wanna track," Robinson said.
Planners asked supervisors to review the chapter's stated issues, goals and objectives and to identify where the county can have influence—for example, on educating private-well owners about regular testing and on coordinating regional approaches to protect groundwater. Kimmons said the chapter will add more groundwater data, stormwater-quality management practices, salt-reduction efforts and a discussion of preparedness for contamination or natural-disaster impacts.
No regulatory action was adopted at the meeting; staff will incorporate additional sampling and feedback into the draft chapter for later review.
