Some Elements Of SEWRPC Water Plan Ignored

Much of the debate about water sale policy between the cities of Waukesha and Milwaukee last week focused on one criteria inserted by the regional planning commission (SEWRPC) into the discussion:

Delineating on a SEWPRC-drawn map an enlarged water supply area for Waukesha that is contiguous with Waukesha's sewer service territory by including parts of four neighboring municipalities that Milwaukee says have not demonstrated a need for Lake Michigan water.

But in the November, 2002 prospectus released by SEWRPC that outlined the needs and parameters for a regional water supply study - - a study that ultimately recommended that Waukesha receive Lake Michigan water as Waukesha's Lake Michigan diversion application endorses, too, SEWRPC said there was more to the supply of water:

The Need to Coordinate Water Supply Planning with Land Use, Transportation, Sanitary Sewerage, Park and Open Space, and Natural Resource Protection Planning

A needs exists at the regional level to relate water supply planning to regional land use, transportation, sanitary sewerage system, park and open space, and natural resource protection planning. The availability of public water supply is an important determinant of the urban land use pattern of an area. Along with the availability of sanitary sewerage, and a level of accessibility, as determined by the transportation system, the availability of public water supply influences the type, intensity, location, and extent of urban land use development in an area. Water supply facilities should form coordinated subsystems within the urban and urbanizing areas, and should be designed to promote land use development in accordance with adopted regional, county, and local municipal comprehensive plans. Such comprehensive plans are, in turn, required as a basis for the design of the location, configuration, and capacity of the public water supply facilities.