Wisconsin / Green Lake County

Score 32 · moderate · #38 of 72 in WI

Crawl space moisture in Green Lake County, WI

Green Lake County scores moderate: no single wet-soil signal dominates its mapped acres. Where a seasonal water table is reported — 74% of acres — it averages 2.8 ft below grade.

Size venting or encapsulation

1234
  1. 1Water table 2.8 ft
  2. 2Wet soils 36%
  3. 3Moisture score 32
  4. 4EPA radon zone 1
Excessively0%Somewhat excessively7%Well53%Moderately well4%Somewhat poorly3%Poorly17%Very poorly15%
Share of mapped soil acres in Green Lake County, WI by NRCS drainage class (dominant condition), bars to scale; wetter classes highlighted. Covers 92% of mapped acres.
Dominant drainage
Well drained
53% of acres
Group D soils
36%
slow infiltration
Flood-prone acres
7%
any flooding frequency
Ponding
0.1%
acres where water ponds

Reading the Green Lake County soil survey

The score of 32 combines four parts, each from the USDA survey: wet drainage classes contribute 35.9 points of 100 on their own scale, group D soils 23.5, a shallow water table 43, and flooding 6.3; the weights are on the methodology page. The dominant hydrologic group is B (42% of acres): moderate infiltration.

17%A42%B5%C1%D10%A/D15%B/D10%C/D
Hydrologic soil groups in Green Lake County by share of acres, columns to scale. Group D and dual groups (x/D) shed water slowly and hold it near the surface.

At 2.8 ft the seasonal water table is usually below a crawl-space floor, but the 74% of acres that report one are by definition the wettest parts of the county; on those lots, a wet spring can bring water close to the footings.

Green Lake County against the rest of Wisconsin

Green Lake County ranks 38 of 72 Wisconsin counties, 1 points below the state median of 33. That places it in the middle range, nationally and for the state. Statewide, 32% of mapped soil is in the wet drainage classes; here it is 36%. After well drained, the next most common class is poorly drained at 17%.

Flooding. 5% of acres with a flooding class are rated frequent; 2.3% of acres with a flooding class are rated occasional. Flood-prone soils are a minority here, concentrated along streams; the score mostly reflects what happens between floods.

What it means for a crawl space here

In a moderate county the soil record is mixed rather than uniformly wet, so conditions vary from lot to lot. Where the lot drains, the model-code default — a vented crawl space with 1 sq ft of net vent per 150 sq ft of floor, or 1 per 1500 with a Class I vapor retarder on the ground — is a reasonable starting point; where the sections above point to a shallow water table or flood-prone soil on your lot, plan as for an elevated county. Either way, check the site first: grading that falls away from the foundation, gutters and downspouts that discharge well clear of it, and a ground cover over bare earth. A wet crawl space in a moderate county points to one of those first.

Radon. Green Lake County is in EPA radon zone 1, the highest predicted potential. A sealed crawl space and a radon system share most of their parts — the liner, the sealed seams, a fan — so if you are encapsulating, test for radon first and design both together. EPA itself says the zone map is not a reason to skip testing in zones 2 and 3.

Near Green Lake County by score

All 72 Wisconsin counties

Sources: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access (muaggatt: drclassdcd, hydgrpdcd, flodfreqdcd, pondfreqprs, wtdepannmin), acreage-weighted (survey area WI047; drainage covers 92% of 243,648 mapped acres); EPA Map of Radon Zones, county table (June 2024 JSON); IRC R408.3 Unvented crawl space, as adopted in S.C. Code Regs. 8-1221 (LII). Checked 2026-10-23.