- For tonight's "Capitol Insight," a look with senate
leaders at a contentious issue.
But first this background.
Wisconsin ranks number one in the nation for production of
snap beans, number two for carrots and number three for
potatoes.
That volume vegetable production means the need for water to
irrigate, especially in the Central Sands region in the
middle of Wisconsin, where potato production is king.
The use of high-capacity wells which withdraw more than 100,000
gallons of water per day is on the rise.
That's to the consternation of environmentalists concerned
about lakes and streams running dry because of the large scale
irrigation.
And that concern escalated this week when the state senate
passed a measure that relaxes regulations on high-capacity
wells.
Under the bill, the DNR would not have oversight on the wells
if they are repaired, replaced or the property is sold.
Senate Majority Leader Republican Scott Fitzgerald is
chief author of the bill.
We'll be joined by the minority leader who opposes the measure
in a few moments.
But Senator Fitzgerald joins us now and thanks very much for doing so.
- Good to be with you.
- So why did you author this bill?
- Really I think because if you go back to last session,
it was one of the few bills
that we were unable to complete our action on.
We passed it in the Senate.
The Assembly passed it.
There was an amendment added over there
that we just couldn't come to agreement on.
So we adjourned.
Both houses adjourned and we had not completed our action on
this.
So for me it was one of the things that we should have
revisited right away and we did, and with the way that -- just
with the way that the bill was drafted and how we brought it
together, I ended up being the sponsor of it.
- Well, now, you're quoted as saying that this bill could have
gone way further and this bill is not that.
- That's true.
- How could it have gone so much further?
- I think if you started to forecast exactly where you think
that industry is going, where agriculture is going I should
say, and there are other parts of the state where this could be
an issue as well where there's just a higher water need.
Southern Door County is probably another area that
is constantly scrutinized, but for different reasons.
Most of it is related to dairy, which is a big part of this
puzzle as well.
But in this instance I think based on some previous court
rulings and the way that we thought we could gain support
for this was to make sure that it was pretty much measured
and it's as you described.
It's really more about giving stability and kind of direction
when it comes to how are we going to deal with these
high-capacity wells in the future and should it be
measured.
And I think that this bill is exactly that.
There's a lot of fear talk involved in this.
And there was a lot of it on the floor of the Senate, about lakes
drying up, streams drying up, all of that fear talk.
Listen.
I understand that ultimately, you know, we all have this real
concern about water.
And that was pretty evident in the debate we had.
But I think this bill is measured.
- But it exempts existing wells, basically, from
oversight, so that's measured?
- It is measured, because anyone involved in this industry
or in agriculture per se -- and you just rattled off the numbers
and what the impact it is for this state.
I mean, a lot of these farmers, all they want to know is that,
hey, if we make an investment, if we expand our operation, we
want to make sure that there's going to be water for that
expansion.
And, you know, they're protectors of the environment.
No one's a better protector of the environment than I think
agriculture and farming.
And they have the same concerns.
So I think -- you know, this is measured and this moves us
in the right direction.
- What have you heard from property owners who might have
lakefront homes or something and their concerns about
literally drying up their lakes?
- They're very concerned about it.
They're worried about it.
I've had it in my district for many, many years where a lake
will be certainly in a position, for many different reasons
that happens.
And, you know, no one's discarding that.
One of the things that one of our brand new senators, Patrick
Testin, who represents the 24th, insisted on was an amendment
that included a study of the Central Sands area.
We did adopt that amendment.
So that will take place.
But at the end of the day I think it's still about certainty
for the industry that continues to be a major, major player in
our economy.
- On that amendment, though, my understanding is that
it's not a review of the impact of the entire region,
just a portion of it.
- Well, you can study the whole state if you want.
We can talk about groundwater.
We can talk about the science of hydrology all you want.
This is I think focused on an area where, you know, there were
-- people that were vocal about it.
This is the part of the state that they have been focused on
and I think this responds to that.
So I think it makes sense.
You know, down the road you may want to do other studies.
I said southern Door County is another area where there's some
concerns.
Certainly in southeastern Wisconsin along the state line,
I mean, there's always been different areas of the state
where I think you can do a study and see what's really going on
and is there something going on.
- Let me move to the budget as long as I have you here.
We learned that the Joint Finance Committee, the budget
writers, are going to start from scratch on transportation.
What's your response to that and what will you be looking for?
- The way I would put it is we're working off
the governor's budget in all areas except transportation.
And the Speaker and I kind of came to that agreement just this
week.
And the reason is I think you're going to see some type
of omnibus motion when it comes to transportation.
There's going to be a lot of things included in that and
we're negotiating that now.
We're trying to work through that ahead of the finance
committee even so maybe we have something that we can present to
the full caucuses that's going to be embraced.
I mean, right now for me and this caucus, I think gas tax
increases are probably not going to be part of it or vehicle
registration fee increases are not going to be part of it as well.
So we've got to be creative.
We're thinking outside the box.
We're looking at the mega projects in southeast Wisconsin
as well as the majors and taking all that into consideration
and trying to come up with something long-term.
- On those southeast projects, you'd like those to proceed?
- I do.
I think all we're doing is falling further behind the eight
ball when it comes to those megas.
We're talking about $6 billion to be all-inclusive.
We've got to focus on that and continue to make sure that
that's not neglected.
If we fall behind on these, we're never going to catch up.
- All right. We need to leave it there.
Senator Fitzgerald, thanks very much.
- Thank you.