What's New

Four years after the passage of the nation’s strongest stormwater regulations, runoff from construction sites in Wisconsin continues to pose a serious threat to the health of Wisconsin’s waters, according to a new report released by Wisconsin Environment and American Rivers.

How You Can Help

E-mail the governor and ask him to strengthen our Shoreland Zoning Rules (NR 115), to protect lakes from the runoff pollution, soil erosion and other problems that result from too much shoreland development.

Background

Thanks to the efforts of environmentalists and others, Wisconsin has largely put a stop to the worst industrial pollution of our lakes and rivers.

In 2002, WISPIRG, working with other organizations, helped to pass strong rules to curb polluted runoff from farm fields, developments and urban areas. The runoff rules were hailed as the strongest runoff pollution laws in the country when they were enacted in 2002, but their promise has gone unrealized due to the State’s failure to adequately fund implementation of the rules. WISPIRG is working to build support with legislators for full funding for these rules in the 2007 budget.

Runoff from livestock waste, pesticides, and fertilizers contains contaminants which, when they get into drinking water, pose numerous health threats. For example, animal waste contains pathogens such as cryptosporidium, which, in 1993, made 400,000 residents of Milwaukee sick and led to the deaths of more than 100 people.

Animal waste is also contaminating Wisconsin's lakes, rivers, and streams. In Black Earth Creek, a popular trout fishing stream, 40 to 80 percent of the trout were recently killed for several miles as a result of runoff pollution.

Construction sites are another major cause of polluted runoff. In the Lake Mendota Watershed, construction sites contributed 23 percent of erosion in waterways while accounting for only 0.3 perent of the land area.

Contamination from runoff and stormwater was responsible for at least 44 days of beach closings in Milwaukee in 2000.