Panel further reduces area in Waukesha's bid for Lake Michigan water

Great Lakes officials meet in Chicago on Tuesday to review Waukesha’s request for Lake Michigan water.
Great Lakes officials meet in Chicago on Tuesday to review Waukesha’s request for Lake Michigan water. Credit: Don Behm
May 10, 2016
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By Don Behm of the Journal Sentinel

May 10, 2016 0

Chicago — Representatives of Great Lakes states and provinces meeting Tuesday in Chicago reached preliminary agreement to remove additional portions of adjoining communities from Waukesha's planned area to be served with Lake Michigan water.

A straw vote of the officials also found preliminary consensus to further cut the volume of water that would be delivered to Waukesha, as part of the city's request to switch to a Lake Michigan water supply.

The area to be served with lake water stands as the city's existing service area and pieces of the Town of Waukesha, known as islands, that are completely surrounded by the city, following the straw vote.

Gone from an area discussed at a May 2 meeting are border islands of the town on the city's east boundary, a narrow portion of the City of Pewaukee south of I-94, and portions of the town on the south edge of the city that are crossed by municipal water mains.

The volume of water needed to serve the smaller service area was set Tuesday at an average of 8.2 million gallons a day by midcentury, down from 8.4 million gallons a day.

Officials from the eight states and provinces of Ontario and Quebec met Tuesday at the University of Illinois-Chicago campus to complete a regional review of Waukesha's request and reach consensus on whether they will recommend governors of the eight states approve or reject the plan. They will resume their meeting Wednesday morning.

The governors, or their designated representatives, will meet in Chicago June 13 to vote on the city's request. Unanimous approval of the eight states is required for the $207 million project to proceed, under terms of a 2008 federal law known as the Great Lakes protection compact.

Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly was in Chicago Tuesday to observe the discussion. Though his city's planned future water service area has been steadily trimmed during the regional review, Reilly said he accepted the approach of Great Lakes officials.

His primary goal has been "getting a new water supply for the city," Reilly said.

The city requested an average of 10.1 million gallons of lake water a day by midcentury as part of a water diversion application forwarded to Great Lakes officials in January.

In 2015, Waukesha pumped an average of 6.1 million gallons a day from wells for distribution to its existing service area.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources last year determined the application complied with protection compact requirements necessary for diverting water out of the Great Lakes basin.

The DNR said at that time: Waukesha does not have an adequate supply of water that is fit to drink, due to radium contamination of deep groundwater supplies; and all the city's water supply options outside the Great Lakes basin would have adverse effects on wetlands, streams and inland lakes.

Waukesha officials in April lowered the volume to an average of 8.76 million gallons a day after regional officials pushed for removing portions of three neighboring communities from a service area included in the original request. The territory removed at that time included much of the Town of Waukesha, generally south of Lawnsdale Road, and portions of the towns of Delafield and Genesee.

The regional officials on May 2 further cut the volume to an average of 8.4 million gallons a day to ensure Waukesha follows through on a plan to reduce water use through conservation measures.

The volume dropped further Tuesday since the area was trimmed again.

One issue not discussed at Tuesday's meeting was whether the small area recommended by the regional group would conflict with state laws requiring a water service area to be consistent with sewer service areas. Waukesha's sewer service area includes all portions of neighboring communities now cut by the Great Lakes officials with the exception of Genesee.

In a statement, Wisconsin DNR officials said the smaller area recommended Tuesday by the regional group could be consistent with Wisconsin law if the eight states determine that a smaller area is required to comply with the compact. State law will not need to be amended, according to the statement.

Reilly said he remained concerned for neighboring communities that would encounter contamination of their groundwater supplies in the future.

Don Behm thumbnail
About Don Behm

Don Behm reports on Milwaukee County government, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, the environment and communities in southeastern Wisconsin. He has won reporting awards for investigations of Great Lakes water pollution, Milwaukee's cryptosporidiosis outbreak, and the deaths of three sewer construction workers in a Menomonee Valley methane explosion.

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