Governor Tony Evers had declared 2019 the “Year of Clean Drinking Water,” – and state legislators say recommendations from a water quality task force are coming soon. Representative Todd Novak of Dodgeville chairs the task force. He says a final report, along with a package of bills, will go before the state Senate and Assembly in early 2020. Task force members hope to have the legislation passed before both chambers wrap up their session in March. Groundwater quality has been a major issue in southwest Wisconsin over the past year. A state study, released almost a year ago, found almost 275 randomly tested private wells in Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Counties had bacteria or nitrates in excess of the federal standards.
