Water Quality Grant for Central Wisconsin Terminated by DOGE

Friday, April 25th, 2025 -- 8:00 AM

(Erik Pfantz, USA TODAY NETWORK - Wisconsin) A $1 million federal grant funding an effort to inform central Wisconsin residents on water quality, fish consumption and related health issues was terminated on March 25 by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

According to Erik Pfantz with USA TODAY NETWORK - Wisconsin, the grant was awarded to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in December through the Environmental Justice Government to Government program, which was first created in October 2009 and reopened in 2020, according to an EPA fact sheet.

Wausau-based Healthy Opportunities for Latin Americans (HOLA) and the Wisconsin Institute of Public Policy and Service (WIPPS) were sub-recipients of the EPA grant.

These organizations were tasked with producing outreach and education materials and facilitating health-related outreach efforts including private well water testing, mobile clinics to provide basic health checks and further information on preventative health care options in eight central Wisconsin counties.

The organizations had already planned their budgets for the year and began work on the project before the cancellation of grant funds, according to Francisco Guerrero, vice president of HOLA.

The two organizations were unable to continue to fund six positions as a result of the loss of the grant funds: five community health workers that focused on both Hispanic and Hmong populations and one staff worker dedicated to coordinating the program.

"Everybody wants them, but nobody wants to pay for them," Guerrero told a USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reporter of the community health workers.

The positions are generally filled by bilingual staff members who are also familiar with cultural norms, which helps in making connections between people and available health resources, Guerrero explained.

"We know that Hispanic communities here need our help, they need assistance navigating or understanding how things work," Guerrero said. "We have to be able to connect them to services and explain, translate and interpret for them." County health departments generally operate on tight budgets, and, in central Wisconsin, they often do not employ bilingual employees, Guerrero said.

In preliminary interviews with health departments conducted in the weeks before the grant was cancelled, program staff found the health departments are aware there are portions of their county populations they are unable to reach but do not have funds to expand their outreach materials.

One specific task of the program funded by the grant was to promote testing of private well water for contaminants in the state's rural areas, according to a December DNR release announcing the grant award.

About 30% of Wisconsin residents drink water from private wells, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Further testing and evaluation of private wells available through the program would have determined whether wells could be repaired or needed to be abandoned.

The Department of Health Services defines a "private well" as having fewer than 15 connections and serving fewer than 25 people. Private wells require regular maintenance and inspection for cracks, damage and other potential for water or other contaminant intrusion.

Private well owners are recommended to test water annually for bacteria and nitrate contamination and every five years for arsenic, manganese and lead.

Rural communities in Wisconsin are often overlooked in regard to public health measures for reasons including fewer impacted individuals, lack of testing or surveillance processes, and lack of knowledge of specific issues facing rural communities, which are items the EPA grant aimed to address with outreach and testing efforts.

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