George Meyer's Cautionary Words Well Worth Waukesha's Attention

If the subjects are water, conservation and public policy in Wisconsin, and George Meyer is speaking - - people listen.

Meyer was a veteran official at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and served as its Secretary- - the chief administrator's position - - for eight years before taking over the reins at the statewide Wisconsin Wildlife Federation in 2001.

He's a recognized conservationist with credibility and credentials, so in case you missed it I want to take and italicize for you a sentence or two from George that was included in a water conservation coalition's news release last week about how the DNR is handling Waukesha's still-incomplete Great Lakes water diversion application.

The application was approved by the Waukesha Common Council in April, submitted to the DNR in May, found incomplete, and deficient, and we learned last week still has problems.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Doing its Job,

DNR again finds Waukesha’s Application for Lake Michigan Water “Incomplete.”

WAUKESHA--... the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) again had to take the unusual step of having to inform the city that its application for Lake Michigan water is still incomplete.

In the letter to Council President Ybarra, the DNR noted that more information is required and “our experience with these types of complex, technical reviews has shown that it is more efficient to make sure we have a complete application before beginning a more detailed review.”  

The [Great Lakes] Compact Implementation Coalition applauds the DNR for taking this action...

"The second decision by DNR that the application is incomplete is very rare and clearly reflects substantial shortcomings in the Waukesha application,” stated George Meyer, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and former DNR Secretary.

"The City of Waukesha should recognize that the DNR is deadly serious in requiring that any application for a diversion of Lake Michigan water fully meet the requirements of the Great Lakes Compact and water quality standards."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyone doubt that the message being sent Waukesha's way by the DNR can be boiled down to - - 'get that application whipped into shape, now!'