Waukesha Schedules Meeting In Wauwatosa On Underwood Creek Discharge Plan

Waukesha plans to discharge, on average, about 11 million gallons of treated wastewater daily into Underwood Creek in Wauwatosa as part of the Lake Michigan water diversion plan.

So Waukesha, as it gets ready to make formal application for the diversion permission to the eight Great Lakes Governors, has scheduled an informational meeting in Wauwatosa to let residents there see the plan.

A similar plan to have the discharge run through Racine in the Root River led a state legislator from the area to balk at Racine becoming Waukesha's toilet. More about that in a minute.

The meeting in Waueatosa, which should also draw people from Milwaukee's West Side, takes place from 5 to 7 p.m on Monday, March 22nd at the Wauwatosa Public Library at 7635 North Avenue.

Waukesha believes the water discharge in the creek at Blue Mound Rd. will not pose a flooding hazard and may improve the creek's quality, too, according to the news release announcing the meeting.

The discharge would make its way back to Lake Michigan after flowing into the Menomonee River.

It will be the Department of Natural Resources - - and not Waukesha - - that determines if the treated wastewater meets water quality standards and has impacts on the creek in the future. While Waukesha currently discharges its effluent to the Fox River, that DNR permitted action is for a different body of water, with different water chemistry.

An alternative proposal to discharge the wastewater to the Root River provoked State Rep. Cory Mason, (D-Caledonia) to object, saying two years ago publicly to Racine media that Racine was not "Waukesha's toilet."

Waukesha has said sending its wastewater back via a pipeline to a connection with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage Commission - - avoiding open discharge into a body of surface water - - was too expensive.