Friday, October 16, 2009

Water Diversion 'Process' Violates Management 101

It's Management 101: "Don't let someone make their problem your problem."

Milwaukee as a potential Lake Michigan water seller to Waukesha, and Wauwatosa as the wastewater dumping site in its Underwood Creek for Waukesha's return flow should both keep that rule in mind.

Especially since the state has allowed the better part of two years to lapse without writing administrative rules to guide the diversion application process.

Call it another core principle of Management 101, or its counterpart, Elementary Regulatory Logic:

Rules first, then the process - - as defined by the rules.

Especially since we're talking about an historic two-nation, eight state Compact, with Waukesha's application being its first - - the one that will set the precedents for everything from application content to legal scholarship to scientific underpinning to environmental protections to public participation - - from a community outside the Great Lakes basin.

More along these lines at OnMilwaukee.com, here.

2 comments:

  1. Process? What process?

    The DNR's failure to promulgate guidelines and regulations for Great Lakes water diversion applications is simply the latest example of the cart before the horse strategy the agency uses.

    Recently, WDNR promulgated regulations for removing millions of tons of biomass from Wisconsin's public forestlands. But when it comes to protecting the state's clean water, streams, lakes and wetlands, WDNR said they'll write rules for addressing AFTER thousands of acres of forests will be scrapped clean of sticks, twigs and anything else that will burn.

    Hey WDNR: You don't put the condom on after you have sex.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Allowing water diversion out of the basin without regulation will set a precedent that would make recourse/ correction far more difficult. The water bottlers should be salivating over this in-action.

    ReplyDelete