Drawdown in the Northeast Groundwater Management Area (Brown, Outagamie, and Calumet Counties, WI)

In Eastern Wisconsin, water levels over large regions have decreased due to many wells pumping from beneath a confining layer. This combination of geology and cumulative pumping from the wells has resulted in a large regional drawdown cone centered around Brown County, Wisconsin. The region has experienced drawdowns greater than 400 feet with a significant portion of Brown County showing drawdowns greater than 150 feet in the confined aquifer.Wisconsin groundwater quantity legislation, 2003 Act 310, addresses these large drawdowns by designating areas with drawdowns greater than 150 feet as Groundwater Management Areas (GMAs). These GMAs are to receive special attention. However, there had not been any analysis of the drawdowns or pumping rates in nearly 10 years (Walker and others, 1998) in the Northeastern GMA, the region in this study. In this report we remedy this gap in our knowledge with compilations of drawdowns, pumping rates, and an improved hydrostratigraphy of the Northeastern GMA in Brown, Outagamie, and Calumet Counties, WI. In addition, eight communities in the Northeastern GMA switched from groundwater to surface water, providing an opportunity to observe changes in water levels from the decreased pumping grates