MMSD Too Smart To Be Reeled-In By Waukesha's Study Request

The City of Waukesha is hoping to dump some of its treated wastewater into Underwood Creek, in Wauwatosa, to edge towards complying with diversion return-flow rules in the Great Lakes Compact.

So it asked the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District to carry out a study of that idea - - which the MMSD has wisely deferred until it can hear more about the plan.

[Description below from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

Good idea: we'd all like to hear more about the plan - - since the DNR hasn't formally seen it yet, let alone approved it, or decided whether it needs an entirely new permit review, or will be approved before it writes its administrative rules governing diversions.

It would be premature for the MMSD to take Waukesha's money and do the study until Waukesha tells everyone just what the plan is - - which also, if Waukesha news releases and other feelers can be believed, to include dumping some treated water outside the Great Lakes basin via the Fox River, flowing west to the Mississippi and eventually to the Gulf of Mexico.

Since the Compact requires all water to be returned to the Great Lakes basin, the MMSD is wise not to get embroiled in Waukesha's problems, let alone giving Waukesha the MMSD imprimatur.

There's an old rule from Management 101:

From The Journal Sentinel:

MMSD asks for info on Waukesha water plan

Several members of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District's governing commission Monday asked Waukesha officials to give the commission a briefing on the city's proposed use of Lake Michigan as a source of drinking water.

At a meeting Monday, the commission's Operations Committee agreed to wait for the briefing before it acts on a proposed $40,000 study of the impact of discharging all of Waukesha's treated wastewater in the future to a small stream in Wauwatosa.

Discharging to Underwood Creek, a tributary of the Menomonee River, is one of Waukesha's options for returning water to Lake Michigan, if the city receives approval of each of the eight Great Lakes states to use Lake Michigan as its water supply.

Waukesha has agreed to pay MMSD up to $40,000 to do the Underwood Creek impact study, Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson said Monday. MMSD staff members are seeking the commission's approval to conduct the analysis.

Waukesha Water Utility General Manager Dan Duchniak said city officials will schedule a briefing in May on its plan to withdraw water from the lake.