Our Legacy of Victory
WMC v. Dept. of Natural Resources
Clean Wisconsin achieved another major legal victory in 2024 when a judge ruled in favor of the DNR’s water pollution permitting program, which allows the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to oversee the way concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) manage animal waste and discharge it into the environment. The program had been threatened by a lawsuit from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) on behalf of lobbying groups that represented Wisconsin’s largest dairies. Clean Wisconsin’s win in court reinforced crucial safeguards for Wisconsin’s waterways and drinking water. Without this protection, contamination from animal waste would pollute our waterways and drinking water with nitrates, phosphorus, and pathogens like bacteria, parasites and viruses.
Protecting Wisconsin surface and groundwaters from animal waste
Clean Wisconsin intervened in the case in 2023 after WMC filed a lawsuit on behalf of Wisconsin Dairy Alliance (WDA) and Venture Dairy Co-Op, lobbying groups for some of Wisconsin’s largest dairy operations. The suit aimed to undermine a critical DNR decades-old water permitting program that allows the agency to oversee how CAFOs discharge untreated animal waste by requiring these large operations — some of which can produce as much waste as a small city — have permits and plans to deal with the excess waste. The program plays a crucial role in mitigating the amount of manure and agricultural wastewater from running into our state’s streams, rivers, lakes and groundwater.
Wisconsin’s Court of Appeals upheld the initial decision in August 2025, again reaffirming the DNR’s authority to require CAFOs to minimize their impact on our waters.
Why It Matters
Contamination from animal waste is one of the biggest threats to clean, safe water in Wisconsin. While many dairies around the state have implemented practices to cut the amount of wastewater runoff from their operations, many surface and groundwaters around the state are already contaminated with animal waste. Without the water pollution permitting program, the DNR’s ability to address that contamination at the source would be severely hindered. The court wins at the circuit and appellate levels ensured our steps remain in place to protect the resources we all rely on.
