Water Use Rules

To implement the Great Lakes Compact and associated statewide water use regulations, administrative rules are needed in several areas. Three proposed rules, Water Conservation and Water Use Efficiency, Water Use Registration and Reporting and Water Use Fees are now available for public comment.

Public Hearings

The Department has issued a public notice of hearings on the proposed rules that are scheduled during June 2010:

• June 28, Milwaukee Ramada Plaza Terrace 1 & 2, 6331 South 13th Street, Milwaukee at 6 pm
• June 29, University of Wisconsin Green Bay, Instructional Services Building, Room 1034, 2420 Nicolet Drive, Green Bay at 6 pm
• June 29, Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, Ashland Room 306, Conference Center, 2100 Beaser Ave., Ashland at 6 pm
• June 30, Pyle Center, Room 121, 702 Langdon St., Madison at 6 pm
• June 30, Northcentral Technical College, David Obey Center for Health Sciences Auditorium, 1000 Campus Dr., Wausau at 6 pm

Review and Comment

The proposed rules and supporting documents, including the fiscal estimate may be viewed and downloaded and comments electronically submitted from the following links:

• Water Conservation and Water Use Efficiency
• Water Use Registration and Reporting
• Water Use Fees

Comments on the proposed rules may be submitted until July 7, 2010.

Draft Rules

• Factsheet [PDF 61KB] – This printable factsheet provides a summary of each of these rules.
• Water Conservation and Water Use Efficiency – The rule clarifies and further defines requirements for water conservation and water use efficiency for water withdrawals within the Great Lakes Basin, diversions of water from the Great Lakes Basin, and water withdrawals statewide with high (>2 million gallons per day) water loss.
• Water Use Registration and Reporting – The rule provides specific processes and methods for measuring, registering, and reporting withdrawals and diversions from the Great Lakes Basin.
• Water Use Fees - State statute sets a base fee of $125 annually for anyone with a water supply system (e.g. well or surface water withdrawal) with the capacity to withdraw an average of 100,000 gallons per day in any 30–day period. The rule implements an additional Great Lakes basin-specific fee on persons who withdraw more than 50 million gallons of water per year.

Additional Administrative Rules

The Department is also currently drafting rules for:

•Water Supply Service Area Plans
•Water Use Public Participation
•Water Loss and Consumptive Use
•Water Use Permitting

These rule drafts are expected to be available for public comment in fall of 2010. Check back at this webpage or sign up for GovDelivery for notification regarding these rules.

For more information on this topic please contact:

Shaili Pfeiffer
Water Use Section
Bureau of Drinking and Groundwater
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
P.O. Box 7921
Madison, WI 53707–7921
Phone number: (608) 267–7630