Tuesday, August 18, 2015

DNR repeatedly asked to study rebound to Waukesha well supply

[Updated from 3:54 p.m. ] Several speakers, including Ezra Meyer from Clean Wisconsin, have urged the DNR at hearings on Waukesha's Great Lakes water diversion application on Monday, and now today at UWM in downtown Milwaukee, to look at fresh data showing a rebound to Waukesha's underground supplies.

The diversion application is based on the well supply continuing to dwindle, with more contaminants pumped the deeper the wells are sunk.

But the aquifer is rebounding: the DNR confirmed it at Monday's hearing, and there has been reporting about it since August, 2014 - - so the issue is whether the DNR, to maintain the integrity of its process, will ask Waukesha to revisit the matter, or do it on its own.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

EZRA!!!

Unknown said...

It is funny when the fact that the water table has risen and continues to rise gets stated, and then repeated in the meetings, folks likely Mayor Riley and the rest just sit there with frozen faces as if nothing had been said.

They choose to just ignore that fact or act like it doesn't matter.

It is actually rather entertaining.

Unknown said...

The DNR has monthly pumping reports on every municipal well in the state for the past 25 years. The report data is stored in a queryable database. It would appear to be an easy task to list all the well drawing water from the aquifer Waukesha's deep wells draw water from. Listing all the well and the annual pumping production records for those wells will help determine the specific capacity of the aquifer to produce water. With other local communities such as Menomonee Falls, New Berlin, etc. reducing and/or stopping use of the aquifer with trace radioactive nuclei the aquifer is obvious recovering. A number of water utilities have resolved their radium problem by simply blending shallow well water production with water from the deeper aquifer. Mukwonago is one of those communities.