Kaul Backs DNR On High Capacity Wells


Kaul Backs DNR On High Capacity Wells


Reverses opinion by former AG Brad Schimel; Supreme Court to rule on whether DNR can weigh environmental impact of wells.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul says the state Department of Natural Resources can weigh the collective environmental impacts of high-capacity wells on state waters. The move reverses a contested opinion from former Attorney General Brad Schimel.

Schimel’s opinion, issued in 2016, countered a 2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court case, known as the Lake Beulah decision, that ruled the agency does have the authority to consider when such wells harm state waters, prompting legal challenges from environmentalists. The state’s former top legal advisor argued the 2011 law known as Act 21, which was passed shortly before the Supreme Court ruling, limited the regulatory authority of state agencies to what’s expressly written in state law.

The wells, which can draw more than 100,000 gallons per day, are vital for irrigating farm fields, but they’ve raised concerns over waters drying up in some areas of the state...

SEE ALSO:

Kaul: Wisconsin DNR can gauge impact of high-capacity wells on nearby water sources


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Ken Notes: This should now allow us to look at the impact of CAFO`s as well. They are using wells to not only water their animals, but to dilute the manure so they can pump it miles away from the source. If our elected officials actually knew how a CAFO disposes of its waste we would have a new set of rules.

Unfortunately these CAFO`s are well organized, well funded, and are presenting themselves as Wisconsin`s dairy farms. They are not. Large agriculture interests contributed about $3.8 million to legislative and statewide candidates between January 2014 and June 2019, including more than $1.3 million to current legislators.

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- - Volume: 8 - WEEK: 20 Date: 5/11/2020 7:38:20 AM -