Question bank

Why this matters: Professionals answer the question you ask. These are written to be asked verbatim, organized by who you’re asking. The point is to make vagueness impossible.

For the seller and listing agent

Put these in writing. A written non-answer is itself useful.

1. Is there a well construction report on file with the DNR? Please provide it.
2. When was the well drilled, by whom, and to what depth?
3. When was the pump last replaced?
4. Has the well ever run dry, gone low, or been deepened? Under what conditions?
5. What water tests have been done, when, and what were the results? Please provide the lab reports.
6. Has the water ever been treated? What system, installed when, for what problem?
7. Are there any other wells on the property, including abandoned or unused ones?
8. Has the septic system been inspected or pumped, and when? Any failures?
9. Have you ever been contacted by the DNR or the county about the water, the shoreline, or a wetland?
10. Are there any easementseasementA recorded legal right for someone else to use part of your land, such as a driveway crossing or utility access. It survives the sale and binds you., shared well agreements, or lake access rights held by others?
11. Has the pier ever been permitted? Please provide the Chapter 30Chapter 30 permitWisconsin DNR permission to build or change anything on navigable water: piers, dredging, rock riprap, or grading near the shoreline. authorization.
12. Has the shoreline been altered: riprap, fill, dredging, grading? When and under what permit?
13. Has the property flooded, and how high did the water come?
14. Do you know of any high capacity wellshigh capacity wellIn Wisconsin, a well (or all wells on 1 property combined) capable of pumping 100,000 gallons a day or more. These need DNR approval. An ordinary house well does not. or new development planned nearby?
15. Why are you selling?

For the real estate attorney

1. What water-related encumbrancesencumbranceAnything recorded against a property that limits what the owner can do: easements, liens, deed restrictions, mineral reservations. does the title commitment show, and which ones would you push to have removed before closing?
2. Have riparianriparianThe eastern US rule, and Wisconsin's rule. If your land touches a lake or stream, you get reasonable use of that water, shared with everyone else whose land touches it. The rights come with the land and generally cannot be sold separately from it. or lake access rights ever been conveyed to a third party from this parcel?
3. Is there a keyholekeyholeLocal rules that stop a developer from running many back-lot households through 1 narrow strip of lake frontage. or funnelingkeyholeLocal rules that stop a developer from running many back-lot households through 1 narrow strip of lake frontage. ordinance in this county, and does it affect this lot?
4. What language do you recommend for a water quality contingencycontingencyA condition written into a purchase contract that lets you walk away if something checks out badly. Drafting these well costs an hour of attorney time and is the cheapest protection in the whole process. that gives me sole discretion?
5. What yield standard should I write into the well contingencycontingencyA condition written into a purchase contract that lets you walk away if something checks out badly. Drafting these well costs an hour of attorney time and is the cheapest protection in the whole process. for this area?
6. Can you get me seller warranties on the well and septic that survive closing?
7. If the OHWMordinary high water markThe physical line on a shoreline showing where water regularly reaches. On a Wisconsin lake your private property stops there and the state owns the bed below it. The DNR decides where the line is, not your deed. comes back in a different place than the deed suggests, what are my options?
8. What’s my exposure under Wisconsin’s spills law if there’s undiscovered contamination? Does a Phase I ESAPhase I ESAAn environmental background check on a property's history. Standard for acreage, and it establishes a legal defense if contamination turns up later. meaningfully protect me here?
9. Are mineral rights severed, and does that matter for water in this county?
10. What’s the practical remedy if a neighbor’s high capacity wellhigh capacity wellIn Wisconsin, a well (or all wells on 1 property combined) capable of pumping 100,000 gallons a day or more. These need DNR approval. An ordinary house well does not. later dewaters my well? Realistically, what does that cost and how long does it take?

For the surveyor

1. Where is the ordinary high water markordinary high water markThe physical line on a shoreline showing where water regularly reaches. On a Wisconsin lake your private property stops there and the state owns the bed below it. The DNR decides where the line is, not your deed., and will you stake it?
2. How much of my frontage is above the OHWM and usable?
3. What’s the buildable envelope after the shoreland setback, the vegetative buffer, side yards, and any wetland setback?
4. Do the deed’s metes and boundsmetes and boundsThe old-fashioned way a deed describes a boundary, by compass directions and distances. It frequently does not match where the fence actually sits. close, and do they match the occupied boundaries?
5. Are there encroachments in either direction?
6. What’s the elevation of the proposed building site relative to the flood elevation and to the record high lake level?
7. Are there any old, unrecorded fences, driveways, or structures suggesting an adverse possession or prescriptive easementeasementA recorded legal right for someone else to use part of your land, such as a driveway crossing or utility access. It survives the sale and binds you. issue?

For the well driller or pump installer

1. What aquiferaquiferUnderground rock or sand with water in the spaces between the grains. It is not an underground lake. Water seeps through it slowly, often only feet per year. does this well draw from, and how deep is it here?
2. What’s the static water levelstatic water levelHow far down the water sits in a well when nothing is pumping. Tracking this over decades is the best single indicator of whether an aquifer is in trouble. today, and what would you have expected 20 years ago?
3. Will you run a sustained yield test? What gpm and what duration do you recommend for this formation?
4. How much drawdowndrawdownHow far the water level drops while a pump is running. occurs during the test, and how fast does it recover?
5. Is the casing depth and grouting adequate under current NR 812NR 812Wisconsin's well construction code. Wells drilled decades ago often do not meet it, especially on casing depth and grouting. standards?
6. Is the wellhead location compliant with separation distances from the septic and any other source?
7. What do wells in this immediate area typically produce, and have you seen any go dry?
8. What would a new well cost here, to what depth, and would you expect it to be better?
9. Are there any abandoned wells on this parcel, and what would it cost to fill and seal them?
10. Have you drilled for the neighbors? What did you find?

For the hydrogeologist

Hire one if it’s acreage, karstkarstCracked limestone bedrock under thin soil. Contamination at the surface can reach the groundwater in days instead of decades. Common in northeast Wisconsin., a contested aquiferaquiferUnderground rock or sand with water in the spaces between the grains. It is not an underground lake. Water seeps through it slowly, often only feet per year., or you’re planning a large withdrawal.

1. What’s the aquifer, its confinement, its recharge area, and its vulnerability rating?
2. Where’s the recharge zone for this well, and what land uses sit in it?
3. What’s the direction of groundwater flow, and what’s upgradient?
4. What’s the multi-decade trend in water levels in this area, from monitoring well data?
5. How much interference would I expect from the high capacity wells within 2 miles, under what pumping scenario?
6. Is this aquifer hydraulically connected to the surface water on the parcel? If so, what pumping level would affect it?
7. What contaminants would you expect from this geology naturally: arsenic, radiumradiumA naturally radioactive element in southeastern Wisconsin's deep sandstone aquifer. It is what pushed Waukesha off its wells and onto Lake Michigan water., manganese, fluoride?
8. If I wanted to withdraw at [X] gallons per day, is that physically sustainable here, and is it permittable?

For the county zoning administrator

Get answers in writing on letterhead or email. Verbal assurances from a counter clerk are worth nothing at a variancevarianceAn official exception to a zoning rule. They are hard to get, and buying land on the assumption you will get one is the expensive way to learn that. hearing.

1. What’s the zoning district and what overlays apply?
2. Is [my intended use] a permitted use, a conditional use, or prohibited?
3. What are the exact shoreland setback, buffer, and impervious surface limits here?
4. Is this lot conforming, or is it a substandard lot of record? What does that limit?
5. What permits does my intended project require, and what’s the current timeline?
6. Has this parcel had any variancevarianceAn official exception to a zoning rule. They are hard to get, and buying land on the assumption you will get one is the expensive way to learn that., conditional use permitconditional use permitPermission for a use that a zoning district allows only with specific approval and attached conditions., or enforcement action?
7. Does the comprehensive plan designate this area for a different future use?
8. Is there a keyhole or lake access ordinance?
9. Is the sanitary district planning to extend service here, and would hookup become mandatory?
10. Are there any pending ordinance amendments that would affect this parcel?

For the DNR

Slower, and worth starting early. Use the regional water management specialist for your county.

1. Is this water body navigablenavigable in factWisconsin's test for whether a waterway is public. Roughly: can a small recreational boat float on it on a regularly recurring basis. A lot of modest creeks qualify. under state law?
2. Is there a documented OHWM determination for this shoreline?
3. What Chapter 30 permitsChapter 30 permitWisconsin DNR permission to build or change anything on navigable water: piers, dredging, rock riprap, or grading near the shoreline. exist for this parcel?
4. Is there a well construction report on file for this well?
5. Are there high capacity well approvals within 2 miles, and are any applications pending?
6. Is the parcel in a groundwater protection area, near a designated trout stream, or near a spring?
7. Is the water body on the 303(d)303(d)The federal list of waters too polluted to meet standards. If the lake you are buying on is on it, find out why before you close. impaired waters list303(d)The federal list of waters too polluted to meet standards. If the lake you are buying on is on it, find out why before you close., and for what?
8. Are there any open BRRTSBRRTSWisconsin DNR's public database of contaminated and cleanup sites. Search it before you buy anything, and search upgradient of the parcel too. sites within 1 mile?
9. Has PFASPFASThe "forever chemicals" from firefighting foam and industrial processes. They do not break down, treatment is expensive and permanent, and standards keep tightening. Never in a standard water test unless you ask for it by name. sampling been done in this area?
10. Is the parcel inside the Great Lakes basin?

Questions to ask yourself

Worth 20 minutes before you spend $15,000 on diligence.

1. What am I actually hedging against: drought, contamination, cost, supply interruption, or the general feeling that water gets scarcer?
2. Does this parcel address that specific risk better than a smaller parcel plus a good filtration system plus storage?
3. What’s my annual carrying cost: taxes, insurance, maintenance, treatment, testing?
4. If nothing bad ever happens, do I still want this land?
5. Who maintains this in 20 years?
6. What would have to be true for this to be the wrong purchase, and how would I detect it now?