Wisconsin Republicans Plan To Revive High-Capacity Wells Bill

Republican state senators are planning to revive a bill that would make it easier to rebuild and repair high-capacity wells.

High-capacity wells can pump more than 70 gallons of water per minute, or more than 100,000 gallons per day. They often feed irrigation systems for vegetable farms along with other agricultural businesses.

State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said he wants to pass a bill that would let owners of existing high-capacity wells repair or replace them without a permit.

“It’s an issue that’s been hanging out there that needs to be addressed,” Fitzgerald told reporters shortly after the new state legislature was sworn into office last week.

That worries Skip Hansen with the Central Sands Water Action Coalition, a group that favors more regulation for high-capacity wells, not less.

“It would create a western-style water right in Wisconsin for the first time,” Hansen said. “And essentially a western-style water right is first come, first serve.”

Even though Republicans have run state government since 2011, they’ve so far been unable to agree on major changes to Wisconsin’s high-capacity well laws.