After A Delay, Waukesha To Rollout Diversion Application Draft Jan. 28

Mark your calendars; Waukesha now says its draft Lake Michigan diversion application will be made public at its City Hall Friday, Jan. 28th., at 7:00 p.m.

It's announcement today indicates that the draft will undergo revisions into the spring;. I will post a link to the release when I have it in a form I can work with.

A couple of observations:

The application is a draft for several reasons:

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will have to sign off on Waukesha's return flow plan that utilizes Underwood Creek rather than a pipe directly to Lake Michigan or to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.

That review could take many months, or longer.

Secondly, no one has firmly established the costs of the diversion option as compared to other supply alternatives.

A final observation: the Waukesha announcement discusses the diversion's return flow as recycling - - a more environmentally-conscious phrase.

But Pr aside, it is not clear yet whether 'recycling' Lake Michigan water is actually the best use of the water in the first place, or can be done without harming Underwood Creek.

So let's be mindful about the language and terminology that accompanies what will be a long debate, aina?