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Gooseneck pipes
About 39 percent of Wisconsin's households get their drinking water from private wells while most of the rest of the state's 5.7 million people rely on public utilities for this basic necessity. But utility customers across Wisconsin get their water on very different terms.
University of Wisconsin-Madison telecommunications specialist Barry Orton said some rural areas are "off the grid" when it comes to broadband access.
Madison water quality manager Joe Grande said the city finished replacing its lead water pipes in 2012, making it a nationwide model.
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In 1952, the DNR made an intact wetland in Ozaukee County known as the Cedarburg Bog a Wisconsin State Natural Area, only the second piece of land to receive that designation at the time.
Private well
Recent news about water quality in Wisconsin and elsewhere naturally may have people wondering about the quality of what's coming out of their faucets at home.
faucet
Although nearly 900,000 Wisconsin households rely on private wells for drinking water, its quality is not a matter of certainty.
Despite all the heavy rain in the first half of December, with flood warnings across parts of the state, Wisconsinites should be thankful they did not experience a downpour on the order of 5 inches in just 24 hours. Such extreme rainfall can cause damaging flooding, severe soil erosion and crop loss.
University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist Katherine Cramer wrote "The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker," explained how this resentment represents how one's place-based identities influence their understanding of politics.
Sharon Long
Waterborne pathogens can cycle between the environment and their human and animal hosts, causing illness in people and spreading disease between households. To determine how fecal matter contaminates groundwater, scientists use indicators that specify the source, identifying it as human or animal waste.
Sea surface temperatures
One major factor behind the warm Wisconsin autumn is the emergence of an El Niño that is shaping up to be the biggest in nearly two decades.