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La Crosse water utility reviews 149-year history, PFAS-related well retirements and infrastructure plans
Summary
The La Crosse water utility presented a quarterly update covering system history, current capacity and operations, PFAS findings that led to retiring several French Island wells, routine testing and maintenance figures, and upcoming projects including a Granddad Reservoir rehabilitation and new mains.
The La Crosse water utility gave a quarterly update on Feb. 9, outlining the system’s history, current capacity and planned projects.
The presenter said the utility was established in 1877 and described early facilities including the King Street pump house and the Myrick Pump Station. He said the Granddad Reservoir currently holds about 5,000,000 gallons and that the system’s daily average consumption is roughly 9,000,000 gallons. "The La Crosse water utility provides a consistent safe drinking water for some of the lowest rates in the state with an average of $52.05 per quarter," the presenter said.
The presenter told the board the utility maintains roughly 16,800 water services, about 2,000 hydrants and more than 220 miles of water main. He said crews conducted more than 700 required tests in 2025 and tracked over 650 preventative-maintenance items; in 2025 staff responded to 16 water-main breaks and repaired or replaced over 200 water services.
The update covered past and recent changes to sources and treatment. The presenter said some French Island wells (23, 24 and 26) were retired or taken offline after an unknown contaminant was detected and "the contaminant was later determined to be PFAS." He said wells 23 and 24 remain inactive because of high PFAS levels and that well 26 was abandoned after producing its last water in 2021.
Officials discussed infrastructure resilience. When asked to define "redundancy," the presenter said it means having more capacity or parallel lines to preserve supply when a link fails; he cited a recent 20-inch main break under the BNSF railroad that the redundant line helped mitigate. Regarding reservoirs, the presenter said La Crosse’s bluff-top topography lets the city position reservoirs so they act as both storage and pressure vessels, noting that some older reservoirs are underground and not visible.
The utility outlined upcoming work: construction of a new large utility garage, rehabilitation of the Meyrick Pump House, plans to drill Well 27, installation of security fencing around well houses, construction of a water-meter station, a rehabilitation of the Granddad Reservoir (first since 1913) and installation of about 2 miles of 24-inch main on Highway 16. The presenter also said the frequency of fire-hydrant flushing will increase; planned flushing will occur twice a year with some overnight work in high-traffic areas to minimize disruption.
Board members thanked utility staff for their work and invited council members to tour facilities.
The meeting did not take further action on the presentation; the board moved on to other agenda items.
