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(31) Groundwater Education: Reaching out to local communities through well water testing programs
Kevin Masarik, Center for Watershed Science and Education, Stevens Point, WI, and Paul Ohlrogge, Iowa County UW-Extension, Dodgeville, WI
Session: Poster session
Groundwater is utilized by 95% of Wisconsin communities and virtually all rural residents for their everyday water needs. Surprisingly, many people lack a basic understanding of where their drinking water comes from and know little about the safety of their water supply. Meanwhile, communities lack knowledge of local groundwater quality because of the difficulty and expense of gathering data.
To address these needs, UW-Extension organizes community drinking water programs as a convenient way for private well owners to have water tested. Following the water testing an educational program is arranged where participants receive their test results. Water quality specialists on hand provide interpretation of results, answer questions regarding water concerns, and present the basics of groundwater movement and occurrence. An additional benefit of this program is that results are summarized and displayed spatially to provide insight into groundwater quality and identify local patterns or trends in the community.
One private well test does little to provide insight into groundwater quality; however, these programs utilize a citizen-based groundwater monitoring approach to gain knowledge of a community’s groundwater resource. Summary reports have been produced for some counties that have generated large amounts of data. These reports have become an important tool for educating residents and informing local officials about groundwater quality issues.
Data from three Wisconsin counties will be presented, including Iowa County which offered well water testing to residents for 8 years. There are 3,575 households in rural Iowa County and 865 (24%) have participated in a drinking water education program. Maps created from these programs have been able to identify problem areas within counties where future educational and management efforts can focus resources on.
Kevin Masarik
Center for Watershed Science and Education
800 Reserve St.
Stevens Point, WI 54481, USA
Phone: 715-346-4276
Fax: 715-346-2965
kmasarik@uwsp.edu
Paul Ohlrogge
UW-Extension
222 N Iowa Street
Dodgeville, WI 53533, USA
Phone: 608-935-0391
paul.ohlrogge@ces.uwex.edu