Groundwater: How Can You Help?

How Does Groundwater Become Contaminated?

Picture all the water in lakes and streams in the United States. Now, try to imagine 20 times that much water hidden underground, filling cracks and pores in the earth. That's 30-60 quadrillion gallons of water within 1/2 mile of the earth's surface! However, this vast supply of groundwater isn't evenly distributed. Some areas have ample supplies of usable groundwater, other areas have little.

Wisconsin is water-rich. In fact, our state's name comes from the Chippewa word "Wees-kan-san" which means "gathering of waters." You're probably aware of the large amounts of water in our lakes and rivers, but did you know that two quadrillion gallons of water--enough to cover the entire state to a depth of 30 feet--lie hidden underground?

Cool, clear water is a precious and vulnerable resource. In Wisconsin, more than 70% of us depend on groundwater for drinking. Agriculture--and thus our food supply--depends on it. Industry depends on it. Yet, until recently, most people rarely thought about this buried treasure.

Today we're becoming more aware of groundwater, mainly because of increasing reports of contamination. Please open the other submenus to learn where groundwater comes from, why it's important and how it can be conserved and protected.

(Resource: WDNR Study Guide)

How Does Groundwater Become Contaminated?