Wisconsin’s Green Fire (WGF) announces the release of a new Policy Analysis - 'Nitrates in Wisconsin Waters', which lays out comprehensive recommendations for addressing the growing problem resulting from drinking water contaminated by nitrates.
The primary source of nitrate contamination is from nitrogen fertilizer and field applied manure which can leach into groundwater and contaminate water supplies. When nitrate containing well water is mixed with baby formula and fed to infants, it can create serious health effects.
Wisconsin's Green Fire spokesperson Jim VandenBrook is a long-time water quality specialist.
He says as people and governments do more water sampling, more tests are showing nitrate levels exceeding state standards...
"..This has become an issue that has reached more than just conservation groups concerned. It concerns all the citizens of the state..."
He says 90 percent come from agriculture and 10 percent from private on-site septic systems....
"Northern Wisconsin with much less agriculture has much lower levels of contamination than in the heavily 'ag' areas of the state..."
The group says they want to tackle the issue at the source. VandenBrook says farmers who are committed to protecting soil and water by adopting better practices incur costs and risks that their competitors do not. He says farmers should not be alone in carrying the costs of protecting the water we all rely on. He says all the stakeholders need to help farmers with conservation efforts.
Wisconsin’s Green Fire is a statewide membership organization dedicated to science-based management of natural resources.
