Wauwatosa Wise To Get Independent Water Advice

The City of Wauwatosa would indeed be wise to get an independent assessment of the impacts on Underwood Creek created by Waukesha's intention to dump its treated Great Lakes diverted waste water into Underwood Creek.

Wauwatosa is possibly in line for the waste water because for Waukesha, it's a cheap solution. And Racine wasn't interested.

The Creek runs through Wauwatosa before connecting to the Menomonee River, which empties into Lake Michigan.

Up to this point, Waukesha's position is that the average 11 million gallons of waste water daily it intends to return to the lake in this fashion will be good for the Creek and won't cause flooding downstream - - a problem that has plagued Wauwatosa.

Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources will have to issue Waukesha a permit for the discharge, and that will mean a careful look at the Waukesha treatment plan and also whether the Creek can handle the new volume of water.

But regardless of the DNR's review, and Waukesha's beliefs, Wauwatosa would be smart to get its own scientific, legal and financial experts involved.

The same holds true for the further downstream City of Milwaukee; Milwaukee County's Board of Supervisors, fearing damage to County parks and residents' quality of life, voted recently 13-3 to formally oppose the Waukesha scheme.

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