Document gxEmL5pdEDdM7JjnvgjxJj2q

KENOSHA NEWS KENOSHA. WIS. (a) 28,300 JUL 2 4 1975 liO 0 Wisconsin's water quality Improves MADISON, Wis. (UPI) -- Overall water quality in Wisconsin is improving gradually, according to the state Department of Natural Resources. The DNR said rapid improvement was likely within the next decade as new federal and state programs begin to take effect, but much more work to dean up waters remains to be done. Most Waterways Meet Standards In its annual water quality report to Congress, the DNR said that of Wisconsin!' 3,960 miles of major rivers, all but 306 miles already meet national water quality stan dards that must be attained by 1983. Of the 703 mpjor industrial wastewater dischargers In the state, 4u appeared to be meeting effluent limits set for 1977. Financial projections showed that municipalities would be spending $651 millioo in sewage treatment plant construction between now and 1980, and that the pulp and paper Industry would spend $153 million on pollution control in the same period. Farm, City Runoffs Remain Problems The DNR said polluted runoff from farms and cities remained a serious problem. It was estimated that 7.2 million of Wisconsin's 12.2 million acres of cropland have erosion problems which contribute silt and fertiliser to streams. Urban stormwater enters streams after every rain, carrying pollutants from lawns, streets and construction sites. Abstinent In this ares is "many years and dollars away," the DNR said. Trace amounts of toxic chemicals in fish still were a problem and "no sooner are eome of these substances brought under control than others arise to take their place," the agency said. State Banned DDT Use Since the statewide ban on DDT, concentrations of it in Lake Michigan fish have declined. But recently, high concentrations of PCBs have been found In fish from Lake Michigan, Lake Pepin and part of the upper Fas River. Cleaning discharges from municipal sewage traatmaat plants was Ukely to be as difficult and expensive as industrial pollution control, the DNR said. So far, Wis consin has been ahead of most other states in this field. AU sanitary sewers in the state lead to some kind of treatment plant, and 98 per cent of the population with sewers Is served by secondary treatment of sewage. Hie sewage plants need frequent modernlation, how ever. - Of the' state's 550 treatment plants that discharge to. surface waters, 212 have been improved or rebuilt the past five years. // - HONS 031017