Town Of Waukesha Elections: The Plots Of "Total Recall" And "Chinatown"

Candidates put up by a citizens coalition in revolt over how the Town Board handled new well location permissions in the Town for the neighboring, larger City of Waukesha won both contested seats in today's recall elections.

Two long-time incumbents were blown out.

This means two things:

1. The Town is firming up its anti-well siting position and opposition to the City's annexation of property where at the so-called Lather's property where the wells are to go. This plan was heavily promoted by the Waukesha Water Utility and former Mayor Larry Nelson - - defeated in April by Jeff Scrima, a political newcomer.

2. If the City is blocked from this near-to-mid-range water supply - - and perhaps as a longer-range source - - it may push the Common Council and utility in Waukesha to more strongly argue that Lake Michigan is its best option.

Except that much of the Town is targeted by the City for water service expansion in the Lake Michigan diversion application, which many Town residents do not want.

They like their local shallow well supplies, and want to control it, as they said in their recall elections and in litigation that is on its way.

Loud and clear, the Town says to the City: leave us and our water alone; Scrima has said the City needs to be respectful of the Town; Maybe for Scrima, these new Town board members are allies, or open minds to a cross-border water solution based on conservation, sustainability and mutual respect.

That would put a nice new spin on regional cooperation.

But make no mistake about it: The Town is going to fight the City over the utility's goal of new wells on the Lather's property, and the City could end up in a battle perhaps with one of more Great Lakes states over the Lake Michigan option, and if that's not enough, also possibly with the City of Milwaukee over conditions and regional issues Milwaukee policy says must be attached to a water supply deal - - if the application goes forward and is approved.

All the while as the City of Waukesha's Mayor and Common Council are at odds over whether the City's Lake Michigan application gets edited to meet early state DNR technical and legal objections, and then whether it gets moved forward.

Maybe the City of Waukesha should look more closely working with the Town, and also at the options Scrima wants studied - - and also at the Riverbank Inducement Method that scientists at the UWM WATER Institute are researching as we speak.

In hindsight, it seems as if the City should have opted to clean and conserve its deep well water a decade or more ago - - as did Brookfield and other municipalities drawing on water tainted with naturally-occurring radium - - when the feds first said such water wasn't up to the federal standard.