Wisconsin Statutes
Wis. Stat. § 281.12 (2026)
General department powers and duties
✓ current as of July 2026
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281.12(1)(1) The department shall have general supervision and control over the waters of the state. It shall carry out the planning, management and regulatory programs necessary for implementing the policy and purpose of this chapter. The department also shall formulate plans and programs for the prevention and abatement of water pollution and for the maintenance and improvement of water quality.
281.12(2)(2) The department, on behalf of and at the direction of the governor, may submit an application to the federal environmental protection agency under 33 USC 1344 (g) seeking the delegation of authority to this state to administer its own individual and general permit program for the discharge of dredged or fill material into the navigable waters of this state. If the federal environmental protection agency delegates this authority to this state, the department may assume that authority.
281.12(3)(3) The department, upon request, shall consult with and advise owners who have installed or are about to install systems or plants, as to the most appropriate water source and the best method of providing for its purity, or as to the best method of disposing of wastewater, including operations and maintenance, taking into consideration the future needs of the community for protection of its water supply. The department is not required to prepare plans.
281.12(5)(5) The department may enter into agreements with the responsible authorities of other states, subject to approval by the governor, relative to methods, means and measures to be employed to control pollution of any interstate streams and other waters and to carry out such agreement by appropriate general and special orders. This power shall not be deemed to extend to the modification of any agreement with any other state concluded by direct legislative act, but, unless otherwise expressly provided, the department shall be the agency for the enforcement of any such legislative agreement.
281.12 Cross-referenceCross-reference: See also chs. NR 809, 811, 812, and 845, and ss. NR 1.50, 1.95, and 103.05, Wis. adm. code.
281.12 AnnotationThe Department of Natural Resources’ general supervision and control over the state’s waters is not so sweeping as to authorize the department to ban all activities that might adversely affect water quality or to establish limitations for any one specific industry. Rusk County Citizen Action Group, Inc. v. DNR, 203 Wis. 2d 1, 552 N.W.2d 110 (Ct. App. 1996), 95-3125.
281.12 AnnotationThrough this section and s. 281.11, the legislature has delegated the state’s public trust duties to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in the context of its regulation of high capacity wells and their potential effect on navigable waters. For all proposed high capacity wells, the legislature has expressly granted DNR the authority and a general duty to review all permit applications and to decide whether to issue the permit, to issue the permit with conditions, or to deny the application, which provides DNR with the discretion to undertake the review it deems necessary for all proposed high capacity wells, including the authority and a general duty to consider the environmental impact of a proposed high capacity well on waters of the state. Lake Beulah Management District v. DNR, 2011 WI 54, 335 Wis. 2d 47, 799 N.W.2d 73, 08-3170. See also Clean Wisconsin, Inc. v. DNR, 2021 WI 72, 398 Wis. 2d 433, 961 N.W.2d 611, 18-0059.
281.12 AnnotationThe legislature has granted the Department of Natural Resources the broad but explicit authority to consider the environmental effects of a proposed high capacity well under this section. That its explicit authority to do so is broad does not negate that authority. That authority to consider the environmental effects of all high capacity wells is consistent with s. 227.10 (2m). Clean Wisconsin, Inc. v. DNR, 2021 WI 72, 398 Wis. 2d 433, 961 N.W.2d 611, 18-0059.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10
cases (4 in the last 5 years), 2001–2025 · leading case: Clean Wisconsin, Inc. v. DNR, 2021 WI 72 (Wis. 2021).
Clean Wisconsin, Inc. v. DNR, 2021 WI 72 (Wis. 2021). “As we explained in Lake Beulah, the legislature clearly granted that authority by delegating to the DNR certain public-trust responsibilities in Wis. Stat. § 281.12 . See Lake Beulah, 335 Wis.”
Lake Beulah Mgmt. Dist. v. State, 2011 WI 54 (Wis. 2011). “11 setting forth the purposes and policies of that subchapter, and in Wis. Stat. § 281.12 , outlining the DNR's duties under that subchapter to protect and preserve waters of the state.”
Maple Leaf Farms, Inc. v. State-Dep't of Nat. Resources, 2001 WI App 170 (Wis. Ct. App. 2001). “A comprehensive action program directed at all present and potential sources of water pollution whether home, farm, recreational, municipal, industrial or commercial is needed to protect human life and health .”
Rock-Koshkonong Lake Dist. v. State Dep't of Nat. Resources, 2013 WI 74 (Wis. 2013). “11 and § 281.12, the legislature has delegated the State's public trust duties to the DNR in the context of its regulation of high capacity *121 wells and their potential effect on navigable waters such as Lake Beulah.”
Lake Beulah Mgmt. Dist. v. State Dep't of Nat. Resources, 2010 WI App 85 (Wis. Ct. App. 2010). “" Wis. Stat. § 281.12 (1). The policy and purpose section states that the DNR shall serve as the central unit of state government to protect, maintain and improve the quality and manage- *237 merit of the waters of the state, ground and surface, public and private .”
Lake Beulah Mgmt. Dist. v. Vill. of East Troy, 2011 WI 55 (Wis. 2011). “11 and § 281.12 (2007-08) 2 and its creation of a comprehensive permitting framework for high capacity wells in Wis.”
Andersen v. Dep't of Nat. Resources, 2010 WI App 64 (Wis. Ct. App. 2010). “283 is to "grant to the department of natural resources all authority necessary to establish, administer and maintain a state pollutant discharge elimination system ... consistent with all the requirements of the federal water pollution control act amendments of 1972 .”
Kohler Co. v. DNR, 2024 WI App 2 (Wis. Ct. App. 2023). “§ 281.12(1). The “waters of the state” include wetlands.”
Wisconsin Dairy All. Inc. v. Wisconsin Dep't of Nat. Resources (Wis. Ct. App. 2025). “2d 433 , ¶25 (“The text of § 281.12 explicitly requires the DNR to ‘carry out the 8 No.”
Kristle Majchrzak v. Bayfield Cnty. (Wis. Ct. App. 2024). “Consistent with the DNR’s authority to regulate water, the DNR requires owners to “notify” the agency “of the location of a well that is not a high capacity well before construction of the well begins.”
— Wis. Stat. § 281.12(1) — 5 cases
Clean Wisconsin, Inc. v. DNR, 2021 WI 72 (Wis. 2021). “As we explained in Lake Beulah, the legislature clearly granted that authority by delegating to the DNR certain public-trust responsibilities in Wis. Stat. § 281.12 . See Lake Beulah, 335 Wis.”
Lake Beulah Mgmt. Dist. v. State, 2011 WI 54 (Wis. 2011). “11 setting forth the purposes and policies of that subchapter, and in Wis. Stat. § 281.12 , outlining the DNR's duties under that subchapter to protect and preserve waters of the state.”
Kohler Co. v. DNR, 2024 WI App 2 (Wis. Ct. App. 2023). “§ 281.12(1). The “waters of the state” include wetlands.”
Kristle Majchrzak v. Bayfield Cnty. (Wis. Ct. App. 2024). “Consistent with the DNR’s authority to regulate water, the DNR requires owners to “notify” the agency “of the location of a well that is not a high capacity well before construction of the well begins.”
Wisconsin Dairy All. Inc. v. Wisconsin Dep't of Nat. Resources (Wis. Ct. App. 2025). “2d 433 , ¶25 (“The text of § 281.12 explicitly requires the DNR to ‘carry out the 8 No.”
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