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I'm speaking today as a resident of rural America, one who has
lived in the shadow of factory farms and biogas digesters.  Despite
all the promises from DNR, local elected officials, and experts
over the years that this farm/biogas digester wouldn't hurt our
water quality or way of life....that has not aged well in Emerald,
Wisconsin.

I watched several in my neighborhood lose their drinking water -
the Town Hall's well which originally had nitrates at 6.9 ppm just
a few years ago - now has nitrates consistently near 40 ppm and has
spiked to 52 and 62 ppm.

This farm keeps getting larger.  We've seen the implementation of
biogas digesters become a rationale for increasing herd sizes....
yet our drinking water is not getting cleaner - but actually much
worse.  The biogas digester exploded and burned up after a few
years and wasn't replaced, but the damage was already done, and our
water has not improved.

My neighbors watched the nitrates rapidly increase over the same
time in their private wells, many of which don't drink their water
anymore - some won't even give it to their pets.   Well drillers
have said "we can dig you a well, but we can't guarantee you
drinkable water."  One neighbor experienced that firsthand when
selling his home - a new well 200 feet deep well was still testing
at 17 ppm for nitrates.  He had to install a reverse osmosis system
to get the property sold - but then the new family, with small
children, moved away within a year because they were concerned
about the water quality.
E.coli has also been found in several wells in our neighborhood
over the years - which made turning on my faucet every day a "crap
shoot" in my mind.  That led to the heartbreaking decision my
husband and I finally made to leave our acreage in Wisconsin for
safer spaces in Minnesota - a place where we can drink the water
and serve it to family and friends without fear.

Clean water is the only driver of economic development in rural
areas.  No one wants to locate a home, subdivision, or business if
clean drinking water is not available.  To incentivize manure
production over milk production is damaging to our environment. 
There is no way our soils can absorb that concentrated nutrient
load from digestate when they are already 5-6x higher in phosphorus
than what is recommended by University of Wisconsin for growing
crops.  TMDLs are common in many agricultural parts of Wisconsin -
green rivers, streams, and lakes by the 4th of July.  Nitrates in
groundwaters are still rising per a 10-year study in St. Croix
County, Wisconsin.

I make the analogy that this feels like these energy companies have
come in and raided our kitchens, make a disastrous mess, and
leaving us to clean it up and deal with the consequences. 

As a resident of the St. Croix River Valley for over 25 years (a
Wild & Scenic River, part of the National Park System), I ask that
you look at the long-term picture - plan for the next generation
and not just the next years' dollars.  

As a farmer's daughter, I get that farming has changed....but what
has not, or will EVER change, is our need for clean drinking
water.