The industries employed an estimated 14,762 people. Most of the businesses in Dubuque County purchase their water from a PWS or obtain their water from a private supply not requiring a permit. There are 12 water use permits for industry in Dubuque County. Currently there is one water use permit issued for power production in the county, which utilizes 17,283 million gallons per year. Mining Water Use Mining in Dubuque County consists of sand and gravel extraction.
Activity varies from year to year based upon construction needs.
Eleven water permits were issued for mining in the county. The State-Wide Rural Well Water Survey completed in 1989 indicates the following quality results for private well water, shown in Table 3, for the northeast hydrogeologic region in which Dubuque County is located. The Iowa State-Wide Rural Well Water Survey, 1990. The UHL's test results for the county also show that in an average year 23.9 percent of wells tested for nitrates exceeded the recommended maximum. These test results are based on non-random samples.