Heavy Rains Pose Thorny Question For Waukesha Diversion Dumping Plan

Thursday night's big rain and the continuing downpours Friday - - flash flooding warnings are being issued as we speak - - again raise a basic question about the City of Waukesha's probable return flow plan for getting diverted Lake Michigan water back to the lake: sending its wastewater down Underwood Creek, in Wauwatosa.

Except, they say, during heavy rain events, so as not induce flooding into Tosa basements and further downstream where the creek joins the Menomonee River.

But will Waukesha be able to predict when and where storms will pop up, and will the valves and gates close reliably?

Plans and promises are so often undone by natural events and human error, or behavior.

We've see so-called Hundred Year rain events come every few years, and climate change models for this part of the country call for more precipitation.

If you live downstream from Waukesha's stormwater dumping point, how are you feeling about your odds?