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Federal water data

County water report

Brown County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Brown County, Wisconsin.

Water grade

B

Water score

62.3

State rank

#9

of 71

Health violations

12

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

6.0%

533 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

346

343,389 recent measurements

Live streamflow

251%

FOX RIVER AT OIL TANK DEPOT AT GREEN BAY, WI

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Brown County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

B

Score: 62.3 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

12

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

6% impaired

533 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

251% of mean

FOX RIVER AT OIL TANK DEPOT AT GREEN BAY, WI

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

346

343,389 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

B

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

62.3/100

Health violations

12

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

5.0

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Brown County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Brown County earns a B grade for drinking water quality, scoring 62.3 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 12 health-based violations — a pattern that public water utilities are required to disclose and correct.

Watershed Conditions

EPA ATTAINS

Under the Clean Water Act §303(d), EPA ATTAINS tracks whether waterways meet quality standards for drinking, recreation, and aquatic life (reporting cycle: 2022). A small share — 6.0% — of assessed waterways are impaired (32 of 533 water bodies) across Brown County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are phosphorus, total and total suspended solids (tss). Impairment does not mean tap water is unsafe — it measures ambient waterway conditions upstream of treatment, not finished drinking water.

River & Streamflow Status

USGS NWIS

USGS NWIS gauge data (as of 2026-05-14T14:00:00.000-05:00) puts FOX RIVER at 13.2k cfs — running significantly above its long-term average at 251% of mean flow. Streamflow is a leading indicator of drought stress, sediment load, and dilution capacity: low flows concentrate pollutants and warm water temperatures, stressing aquatic life and, in surface-water-dependent systems, the source water quality for treatment plants.

Monitoring Network

EPA WQP

EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) aggregates monitoring data from federal, state, and tribal agencies. Brown County has extensive coverage with 346 active monitoring sites with 343,389 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and nutrient. More monitoring sites generally indicate greater scientific attention to local water conditions — and provide the baseline data that regulators use to set future impairment listings.

Editorial advisory

What the data suggests for Brown County

Water Verdict

Brown County receives a fair water quality assessment with a grade of B and a score of 62.3 out of 100. The water supply meets baseline federal standards, but there may be periods of elevated contaminant levels or infrastructure concerns worth monitoring.

Violation Context

Brown County has recorded 12 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 5.0 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is moderate and suggests recurring water quality challenges.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in Brown County meets baseline safety standards, though the compliance record shows some violations worth watching. Brown County's drinking-water compliance score is 62.3 out of 100. The violation rate for Brown County is 5.0 per 100,000 people served. Running tap water for 30 seconds before drinking can reduce any localized lead exposure from household plumbing. Requesting your utility's most recent Consumer Confidence Report is the fastest way to identify which specific contaminants were flagged. Phosphorus, Total is the leading impairment cause in Brown County's watershed. With 346 active water-quality monitoring sites in Brown County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the FOX RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Brown County has better water quality than the average county in Wisconsin. Its water score is 22.8 points higher than the state average, indicating stronger water system performance relative to neighboring counties.

Advisory text summarizes county-level public records and is not a replacement for your utility's current Consumer Confidence Report or direct local notices.

Contaminants & Resources

Key issues flagged in Brown County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Phosphorus (excess nutrients)

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 2

    Total Suspended Solids (Tss)

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 3

    Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs)

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Brown County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Brown County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Brown County

Consumer Confidence Reports (WI)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Wisconsin

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

6.0%

32 of 533 assessed

Mostly healthy

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    PHOSPHORUS, TOTAL

  • 2

    TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS (TSS)

  • 3

    POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS (PCBS)

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Impairment is determined under the Clean Water Act §303(d): a water body is impaired when it fails to meet state-defined quality standards for designated uses (drinking, recreation, aquatic life). Assessment coverage varies by state; counties without assessed water bodies are not shown.

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

346

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

343K

343,389 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Nutrient
  • Organics, Pesticide

Categories measured most frequently

Data from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), aggregating monitoring records from federal, state, and tribal sources. Each measurement represents a single sample analyzed for a specific characteristic (e.g., E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen).

Live USGS Streamgage

River & Stream Conditions

Current Discharge

13.2Kcfs

May 14, 7:00 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

251%

Well above typical

Primary Streamgage

FOX RIVER AT OIL TANK DEPOT AT GREEN BAY, WI

USGS site
040851385
Drainage area
6,330 sq mi
Long-term mean
5,253 cfs

One representative streamgage (the one with the largest drainage area in the county). Many counties have multiple gauges; this view summarizes the primary one. The long-term mean is the full-record annual average; the percent-of-typical value compares the latest reading against that average.

Free tool

Estimate Your Water Costs

Water Cost Estimate

3

3 people  ·  ~225 gal/day

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Brown County:C — Moderate

Some violations or watershed impairment detected.

Estimates use the national average residential water rate ($0.0068/gal, EPA/AWWA 2023) and EPA WaterSense per-person consumption baseline (75 gal/person/day). Actual bills vary by utility, usage tier, and local infrastructure fees. For informational purposes only.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Brown County, Wisconsin?
Brown County, Wisconsin has a drinking-water quality grade of B with a score of 62.3/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 12 health-based drinking water violations over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and streamflow snapshots are reported separately on this page.
Are there any water violations in Brown County?
Brown County has 12 health-based drinking water violations recorded by the EPA over the past 5 years. Health-based violations indicate instances where contaminant levels exceeded EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Violations may have been resolved — check with your local water utility for current status.
How healthy are the watersheds in Brown County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 6.0% of Brown County's 533 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (32 impaired). The top reported causes are PHOSPHORUS, TOTAL, TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS (TSS), POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS (PCBS). Impairment means the water body fails to meet state quality standards for at least one designated use — drinking water source, recreation, aquatic life, or fish consumption. Note: watershed impairment doesn't always translate to tap-water issues; treatment plants can remove most regulated contaminants.
How much water-quality monitoring happens in Brown County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 343,389 measurements from 346 monitoring sites in Brown County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Nutrient, Organics, Pesticide. Each measurement is a single sample analyzed for one characteristic (E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, etc.). High monitoring density means more scientific evidence behind any reported signal — it does not by itself indicate water quality.
What's happening with rivers in Brown County right now?
Brown County's primary USGS streamgage on the FOX RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 13,200 cubic feet per second — 251% of the long-term mean of 5,252.56 cfs. This is well above typical — often a signal of recent precipitation or storm runoff. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Brown County water compare to the Wisconsin average?
Brown County's SDWIS water quality score of 62.3/100 is higher than the Wisconsin state average of 39.5. The average water quality grade across Wisconsin is F, based on data from 71 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Brown County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Brown County has a water quality grade of B (62.3/100). This indicates good to excellent water quality with strong SDWIS compliance. The grade speaks to the public water system, not the watershed — for watershed-level concerns, see the Watershed Health zone. For the most up-to-date information, contact your local water utility or review your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).
Why does Brown County have so many water violations?
Brown County has 12 health-based drinking water violations on record from the EPA SDWIS database. A higher violation count can result from aging infrastructure, underfunded water utilities, agricultural runoff contamination, or industrial pollution. Counties with more water systems may also see more violations simply due to scale. Residents concerned about water quality should consider independent water testing and home filtration systems.
How does Brown County rank for water quality in Wisconsin?
Brown County ranks #9 out of 71 counties in Wisconsin by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 62.3/100, it falls in the top third of counties statewide. The ranking reflects EPA SDWIS compliance only — not watershed impairment, monitoring density, or streamflow, which are tracked separately on this page.

Counties with Similar Water Quality

La Crosse County

Wisconsin

C

61.5

Water score

Racine County

Wisconsin

B

63.2

Water score

Washington County

Wisconsin

B

63.2

Water score

Data Sources

Drinking-water compliance data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) via the ECHO enforcement database. Scores reflect compliance history and health-based violation counts.

Watershed health and impaired-waterway data from the EPA ATTAINS Clean Water Act §303(d) assessments, state-reported and EPA-finalized.

Water-quality monitoring counts from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), federated USGS, EPA, and state agency sampling records over a rolling 5-year window.

Live streamflow from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), continuous discharge measurements from the largest-drainage gauge in each county, compared against the full-record long-term annual mean.

Disclaimer: This data is informational only. It is not health, legal, or professional advice. For concerns about your specific water supply, contact your local water utility.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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