Group worries about industry pushing back
against long-standing regulations to keep water clean.

by Mitch Reynolds, originally posted on January 3, 2017

Some conservationists are warning that Wisconsin is in the midst of a clean water access crisis.

As industry tries to push back against long-standing regulations that aim to keep the state’s water supply clean and available, Kerry Schumann from Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters says 2017 is setting up to be another year of challenges in the legislature.

“There were a number of pieces in legislation in the Wisconsin legislature that, frankly, were really bad for conservation and really bad for people in Wisconsin,” Schumann said.

Her group contends that access to clean drinking water in the state is at a crisis point, and blames a chronically understaffed Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources for a lack of enforcement of laws pertaining to safe water.

“They want safe drinking water,” she said. “They want places to hunt and hike and fish. They want to know that their well isn’t going to run dry.”

Schumann also says the issue is a big one for voters of any political party.