Wisconsin

Buying Land in Waushara County, Wisconsin

Waushara County, seat Wautoma, sits in the sandy, flat Central Sands region of central Wisconsin -- prime irrigated-agriculture country, and home to a small Amish settlement near Wild Rose. County zoning covers nearly the entire county, but the county's own high-capacity irrigation wells have drawn state legislative attention for measurably lowering three of its lakes.

County Zoning Covers All 18 Towns, With One Narrow Carve-Out in Warren

Generally favorable

Waushara County requires a Land Use Permit from its Zoning Office in the unincorporated areas of all 18 townships, with one specific exception: land in the Town of Warren that sits more than 1,000 feet from a lake or 300 feet from a stream falls outside the county's general zoning jurisdiction. This is a narrower carve-out than a full town opt-out -- confirm directly with the county if a parcel is in Warren and away from water.

Three of the County's Lakes Are the Subject of a State-Mandated DNR Well-Impact Study

Case-by-case / verify locally

A 2017 Wisconsin law specifically directed the DNR to study high-capacity-well impacts on Long, Plainfield, and Pleasant Lakes in Waushara County. The resulting study found groundwater withdrawals for irrigated agriculture measurably lowered water levels on these lakes, with more than 200 high-capacity wells concentrated in a roughly 5-square-mile radius around Long and Plainfield Lakes alone. See our dedicated well-water page for what this means if you're buying land near any of these three lakes, or considering a high-capacity irrigation well of your own.

A Small, Documented Amish Farming Community Near Wild Rose

Case-by-case / verify locally

The Wild Rose area of Waushara County hosts one of Wisconsin's smaller Amish settlements, with a dairy-farming-centered agricultural identity typical of the state's central-region Amish communities. This is relevant local context for anyone evaluating smaller working farms or agricultural land in that part of the county, though this research pass found less documentation specific to a large Hmong farming population in Waushara County -- see methodologyNote.

Zoning: countywide, with a shoreland-only exception in Warren

The Waushara County Land Conservation & Zoning Office (380 S. Townline Rd., Wautoma, WI 54982; 920-787-0453) administers the county's Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 58) and requires a Land Use Permit in the unincorporated areas (outside city and village limits) of all 18 of the county's townships -- with one specific, narrower carve-out: land in the Town of Warren that lies more than 1,000 feet from a lake or 300 feet from a stream is outside the county's general zoning jurisdiction. Inside that shoreland band, even in Warren, the county's jurisdiction still applies, consistent with the statewide rule that a town cannot opt out of shoreland zoning. This is a more surgical version of the opt-out pattern found in some other Wisconsin counties, where an entire town withdraws rather than just its non-shoreland portion.

The same office also administers Waushara County's Non-Metallic Mining Ordinance (Chapter 58, Article VII) and its floodplain, subdivision, and septic-related ordinance codes, making it the single first call for most land-use questions countywide (outside the Warren carve-out).

Central Sands agriculture: high-capacity wells and three of the county's own lakes

Waushara County sits within the Central Sands region -- roughly 1.75 million acres of sandy, flat terrain spanning eight central Wisconsin counties (Adams, Marathon, Marquette, Portage, Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara, and Wood) where the underlying sand-and-gravel aquifer is closely connected to hundreds of miles of trout stream and hundreds of lakes. The region's roughly 3,100 active high-capacity wells (each capable of withdrawing more than 100,000 gallons per day, with the average irrigation well drawing around 1.4 million gallons daily) represent nearly 30 times the number in place six decades ago, driven by irrigated agriculture.

Waushara County has its own specific chapter in that broader story: in 2017, then-Governor Scott Walker signed a bill mandating that the DNR study high-capacity-well impacts specifically on Long, Plainfield, and Pleasant Lakes, all in Waushara County. The resulting Central Sands Lakes Study found that groundwater withdrawals for irrigated agriculture measurably lowered water levels on these lakes -- reported reductions of 2 to 3 feet on Long Lake -- with real effects on recreation, fish and plant life, and water chemistry, and impacts to a federally endangered plant species near Plainfield. More than 200 high-capacity wells sit within roughly a 5-square-mile radius around Long and Plainfield Lakes alone. The DNR's report to the legislature recommended a regional strategy, such as a water use district, to manage future withdrawals in the area. If you're evaluating land near Long, Plainfield, or Pleasant Lake specifically -- whether for lake access or for irrigated farming -- this is a live regulatory conversation to ask about directly rather than a settled, closed matter. See our dedicated well-water page for more detail.

Septic, GIS, and where to check parcel records

The Waushara County Land Conservation & Zoning Office (920-787-0453) also handles septic (POWTS) permitting under the statewide SPS 383 standard as part of its combined zoning/land-use function. Private well construction falls under the Wisconsin DNR's statewide NR 812 rules.

For parcel research, the Waushara County Register of Deeds (920-787-0444) and Treasurer (920-787-0448) are both based at 209 S. Saint Marie St., Wautoma, and the county's Land Information/GIS office (920-787-0458) maintains parcel mapping and property/tax data. Extension Waushara County (380 S. Townline Rd., Wautoma; 920-787-0416), part of the UW-Madison Division of Extension, supports the county's agricultural base, including regional livestock programming.

What we could and couldn't confirm

Direct WebFetch access to co.waushara.wi.us was blocked by a network egress restriction throughout this research pass, so the county's zoning-jurisdiction details and department contacts are drawn from WebSearch-indexed excerpts rather than a full verbatim read of Chapter 58 or department pages. The Long/Plainfield/Pleasant Lake high-capacity-well study is drawn from consistent, named news coverage (WFRV, WXPR, Wisconsin Public Radio) plus the DNR's own Central Sands Lakes Study program page, and is treated as reliable. This research pass could not independently confirm a specifically large or well-documented Hmong farming population in Waushara County itself -- broader Wisconsin Hmong-farming coverage names larger population centers (Milwaukee, Marathon, Sheboygan, Dane, Brown, and Outagamie Counties) without listing Waushara among them, so that claim (sometimes cited generally about the region) is presented here only as a light, hedged mention rather than an established fact for this specific county.

Verify directly with: the Waushara County Land Conservation & Zoning Office (920-787-0453) for zoning and septic questions on a specific parcel, and the Wisconsin DNR High-Capacity Well/Central Sands Lakes Study program for current status of the Long/Plainfield/Pleasant Lake regional-management discussion

Who to Call Before Buying Land in Waushara County

Direct WebFetch access to co.waushara.wi.us was blocked by a network egress restriction throughout this research pass, so department names, phone numbers, and ordinance details reflect WebSearch-indexed content rather than a full verbatim read -- confirm current staff, fees, and permit requirements before relying on this page for a specific parcel.

Planning & Zoning