We use water every day and yet we often take safe water for granted. It takes dedicated staff, daily monitoring and maintenance, as well as a lengthy distribution system to bring safe water to every home and business in La Crosse.

La Crosse's source of water is an aquifer consisting of a deposit of glacial outwash sand and gravel in the valley of the pre-glacial Mississippi River. This sand and gravel aquifer is approximately 170 feet in depth in the La Crosse area and is bounded on the east by the bluffs and on the west by the Mississippi River.

It is the responsibility of the Water Utility to install, operate, repair, and maintain all the grounds, buildings and equipment of the city, which as of 2014 included 13 active wells, 2 reservoirs, over 220 miles of water main, 16,600 service connections, 1,980 fire hydrants and the main pumping station.

You may be surprised to learn that the La Crosse Water Utility does not receive any tax dollars from the City of La Crosse, but rather operates entirely on the revenues from the sale of water services.

In 2014, the total water pumped into the distribution system was around 3.9 billion gallons of water.

The average cost of a residential utility bill for an estimated 20 Ccf (14,960.00 gallons ) for water and sewer, along with stormwater charges, was around $104.83 per quarter in 2015 ($51.15 of this for water services) . This comes to an average of $35.00 per month for all three utility services.

At less than a penny per gallon, your municipal water remains a huge bargain. However, it does take ongoing planning and investment to manage and replace aging infrastructure to try and prevent failures before they occur. Investment in public water is an investment right back into the community.

Check out the Utility Billing & Payment Information page for more billing, rates and payment details.

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