2010 Wisconsin Code
Chapter 281. Water and sewage.
281.12 General department powers and duties.

281.12

281.12 General department powers and duties.

281.12(1)

(1) The department shall have general supervision and control over the waters of the state. It shall carry out the planning, management and regulatory programs necessary for implementing the policy and purpose of this chapter. The department also shall formulate plans and programs for the prevention and abatement of water pollution and for the maintenance and improvement of water quality.

281.12(3)

(3) The department, upon request, shall consult with and advise owners who have installed or are about to install systems or plants, as to the most appropriate water source and the best method of providing for its purity, or as to the best method of disposing of wastewater, including operations and maintenance, taking into consideration the future needs of the community for protection of its water supply. The department is not required to prepare plans.

281.12(5)

(5) The department may enter into agreements with the responsible authorities of other states, subject to approval by the governor, relative to methods, means and measures to be employed to control pollution of any interstate streams and other waters and to carry out such agreement by appropriate general and special orders. This power shall not be deemed to extend to the modification of any agreement with any other state concluded by direct legislative act, but, unless otherwise expressly provided, the department shall be the agency for the enforcement of any such legislative agreement.

281.12 - ANNOT.

History: 1995 a. 227 ss. 376, 383, 385, 987; 1995 a. 378 s. 42.

281.12 - ANNOT.

Cross Reference: See also chs. NR 809, 811, 812, and 845, and ss. NR 1.50, 1.95, and 103.05, Wis. adm. code.

281.12 - ANNOT.

The DNR's general supervision and control over the state's waters is not so sweeping as to authorize the DNR to ban all activities that might adversely affect water quality or to establish limitations for any one specific industry. Rusk County Citizen Action Group, Inc. v. DNR, 203 Wis. 2d 1, 552 N.W.2d 110 (Ct. App. 1996), 95-3125.