Advocate For Little Plover River Asks Walker To Veto Hi-Cap Well Plan

Retired business owner Barb Gifford is the latest person calling for Governor Scott Walker to veto an item about high-capacity wells from the state budget.

A good amount of water flows in the Little Plover River near Stevens Point, thanks to spring and early summer rains. But sections of the river have dried up several times in recent years and the national conservation group American Rivers lists the Little Plover as one of the United States’ most endangered rivers. Part of the problem stems from a huge increase in high-capacity wells sucking a lot of groundwater from the area.

Retired business owner Barb Gifford of Friends of the Little Plover River says she wants the governor to ax a Republican-sponsored budget amendment that would make it harder for state regulators to consider the cumulative impact of the hi-cap wells.

Gifford says the Little Plover isn’t the only trout stream or other small Wisconsin river that could occasional go dry.

Gifford: “Motion 375 was….the most outrageous thing I’ve ever seen.”

Duane Maatz of the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association declined comment on the state budget provision, but told the Department of Natural Resources Board and Little Plover friends group Tuesday that growers near the river are using less water than a decade ago.

Maatz: “We really want you to be happy with our practices. I know that today, some of you here aren’t happy with them. I think part of that is lack of understanding.”

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) is going to bat for the budget language on hi-capacity wells. WMC says paper making, dairy, brewing, cranberry growing, crop production, food processing, and cheese making are all dependent on steady supplies of fresh water and most depend on access to high-capacity wells.