Waukesha's pursuit of Lake Michigan water does not have to wait until state rules are adopted implementing a Great Lakes protection compact, state Department of Natural Resources Secretary Matt Frank says in a letter to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
In June, Barrett and Ald. Michael Murphy had asked Frank not to accept an application to divert Lake Michigan water outside of the Great Lakes drainage basin until state rules for reviewing the requests were in place.
In the letter sent this week, Frank says the Great Lakes compact itself has sufficient criteria to guide DNR staff in reviewing an application before adopting state administrative rules.
Barrett said Thursday that he disagreed with Frank's decision.
"If administrative rules aren't needed to implement the compact, what purpose do the rules serve?" Barrett asked.
Waukesha is preparing an application to send to the DNR early next year. The next step in the city's quest to drink Great Lakes water is asking officials from Milwaukee, Racine and Oak Creek for letters stating their willingness to negotiate selling lake water to Waukesha.
Earlier this week, the Waukesha Common Council unanimously authorized Mayor Larry Nelson to ask potential water suppliers to submit letters by Jan. 31. Under the terms of the compact, Waukesha would be required to have at least one such letter in hand before it can make the application.
Nelson prefers to buy lake water from Milwaukee, and he said he is seeking a meeting with Barrett, Common Council members and Milwaukee Water Works officials next month.
Switching Waukesha's supply from groundwater wells to Lake Michigan would cost $56 million. Building a pipeline to discharge the city's treated wastewater to Underwood Creek in Wauwatosa so it would flow back to Lake Michigan, as required by the Great Lakes compact, would cost an additional $22 million.
The compact generally prohibits diversions outside of the basin. Exceptions can be made for communities in counties that straddle the subcontinental divide separating the Great Lakes basin from the Mississippi River watershed.
Waukesha County straddles the boundary so the compact allows the City of Waukesha to apply for use of Great Lakes water.
Among the hurdles Waukesha must clear to gain approval of each of the eight Great Lakes states: showing the city lacks an adequate supply of safe drinking water without tapping into the Great Lakes; and showing that its need for lake water cannot be avoided through efficient use or conservation of its current supply.