Waukesha - The Waukesha County Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday started rallying its members to sign an online petition in support of the Waukesha Common Council's April 8 decision to seek a Lake Michigan water supply.
Chamber representatives will present the petitions to the council at its June 29 meeting, said Brian Nemoir, executive director of the Sustainable Water Supply Coalition.
Voicing support
The coalition, which represents more than 50 employers in the city and county, including ProHealth Care, Waukesha Memorial Hospital and Quad/Graphics, created the online petition distributed Wednesday, Nemoir said.
The petition drive is in response to state Department of Natural Resources Secretary Matt Frank's June 9 announcement that the agency was suspending its review of the application, according to an e-mail sent Wednesday to chamber members. The agency's action was based on Mayor Jeff Scrima's public statements that he intended to continue evaluating other water supply options even though the council had approved the application.
Have to prove need
A Great Lakes protection compact requires a municipality requesting permission to divert water out of one of the lakes to confirm there is no other long-term sustainable water option available to it, Frank said in a June 9 letter to Scrima.
In the application, Waukesha proposes buying water from Milwaukee, Oak Creek or Racine so that it can abandon deep wells pumping radium-tainted water out of a sandstone aquifer.
Switching to wells drawing water from shallow aquifers closer to the surface is not sustainable because water levels in local streams and wetlands would drop quickly, according to the application.
Needs backing
The application needs the approval of Wisconsin and each of the other seven Great Lakes states, under terms of the compact.
"Waukesha is at a crossroads," Nemoir said. "They've examined all options, and the council decided Lake Michigan is the best option. We want the council to affirm that position."
Scrima acknowledged the right of chamber members to express their opinion, but he questioned how many of their businesses are in Waukesha.
"How many would be paying for a Lake Michigan water source," Scrima asked in an interview.
Great Lakes water is an option for the city, he said. "I'm just not convinced it is the best option."
Before next week's council meeting, the Waukesha Water Commission is scheduled to discuss the application process at its regularly scheduled meeting Thursday.
Chamber President Suzanne Kelley confirmed the e-mail and link to the online petition was sent from the chamber office.
The chamber has more than 400 members in the city of Waukesha, Kelley said.