SEWRPC Official Sees Issues Ahead For Waukesha Water Plan

"There's a lot more work to be done by Waukesha."

The context for this understated but very true observation was the complex environmental analysis not yet done on Waukesha's probable plan to divert water from Lake Michigan and return it as wastewater in Underwood Creek.

Waukesha lies outside the Great Lakes basin; the new Great Lakes Compact, an eight-state agreement, lays out stiff requirements for diversions, and requires full return of the diverted water in an overall water management plan approved by all eight states Governors.

But the assessment of Waukesha's obstacles didn't come from an environmental organization: it was made was made by Ken Yunker, executive director of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission at the end of 90 minutes of discussion at SEWRPC's Environmental Justice Task Force (EJTF) about water planning in the region, and Waukesha's probable diversion application.

SEWRPC will soon receive a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee consulting report on a matter that is intricately tied in with Waukesha's diversion planning - - the social justice consequences of the agency's wide-ranging regional water study, and its preferred recommendations, in draft form, that include a Lake Michigan diversion for Waukesha.

But - - and this is important - - the draft SEWRPC water study says there are several ways Waukesha can provide its customers with water.

Waukesha, however, has said only the Lake Michigan diversion meets its needs.

In discussing Waukesha's probable diversion application - - a proposal that will need the approval of all eight Great Lakes Governors - - Yunker said the other states and "one in particular" will be asking Waukesha: "Do you have a reasonable alternative?"

That other state would be Michigan, because, as Yunker noted, it is entirely within the Great Lakes basin.

Michigan has a record of carefully examining other states' diversion plans. In fact, it rejected an application from Lowell, Indiana for a diversion somewhat similar to Waukesha's likely proposal.

All in all, Yunker's remarks at the meeting were a reminder that while SEWRPC is headquartered in Waukesha County, and the water planning efforts of Waukesha and SEWRPC have overlapped - - Waukesha's water utility general manager Daniel Duchniak was an active member of the SEWRPC water advisory committee, as Yunker noted - - the two organizations do not necessarily carry each other's water.

I've written and posted items on this blog about the risks run by Waukesha over its fixation on Lake Michigan.

Maybe now I'll just reference Yunker instead.