Above, Adeline, Eleanor and Jillian with their father Matt Johnson of the Town of Hull. (Contributed photo)

By Brandi Makuski

The Johnson family is just one of nearly 60 families who are mounting a protest against a new high-capacity well proposed just north of Jordan Road in the Town of Hull.

Residents in Hull say they’re already dealing with water shortages, with many blaming Stevens Point’s high capacity well #11- which went online in March of 2012- though city leaders deny any connection to Hull’s water troubles.

Portage County Supervisor Don Butkowski said the new proposed well would impact two of Hull’s subdivisions, and residents there say they’re worried about water quality.

“The application for this well was done very quietly,” Butkowski said. “I have 59 homeowners who signed a petition who are strongly opposed to it; there’s a big concern we’re going to run into some more major water problems in the Town of Hull, especially for these subdivisions.”

According to documents submitted to the Dept. of Natural Resources, the new 70- foot well is expected to draw an average of 576,000 gallons of water daily between April and October, with a proposed maximum daily usage of 1.152 million gallons.

The application was submitted December 16 on behalf of the Plover River Farms Alliance, Inc. but the permit hasn’t been reviewed yet due to a backlog with the Dept. of Natural Resources, which has seen 200 applications for high-capacity wells from across the state since November of 2013. 14 of those applications are from Portage County.

A representative of the Plover River Farms Alliance wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Butkowski says while 45 residents have confirmed having to replace wells due to water shortages/low water pressure since the newest Stevens Point well became active, he expects that number to continue to rise to nearly 100.

The City-Times will continue to follow this story.