Waukesha's proposed Lake Michigan diversion cut again...
Waukesha's proposal has been further trimmed by deleting some of the more obvious sprawl zones outside of the city's boundaries from a potential Lake Michigan supply, but advisory reviewers meeting in Chicago today seem hell-bent to wash their hands of a stringent analysis and recommend a Great Lakes diversion to the final decision-making regional governors that will reward decades of earlier annexations that helped lead the city to draw too deeply from its groundwater.
We'll also see if the Wisconsin DNR, which has long agreed with the city that all the sprawl zones in an expanded service territory beyond Waukesha's city limits - - including areas which had never asked for a diversion - - had to be sent some of the diverted water under state law.
Waukesha's application had asked for permission to divert a daily maximum of 10.1 million gallons and the reviewers are recommending 8.2 million gallons.
The city's current daily usage is about 6 million gallons.
Years ago, the city asked Gov. Jim Doyle to declare Waukesha already eligible for a 24 million gallon daily maximum diversion, but that request, made confidentially, went nowhere.
So - - the question now is: Do Waukesha and the state swallow the repeatedly=trimmed back recommendation, or head to court and risk negating the historic, 2008 US/Canadian agreement - - and the long-term health of the world's largest supply of fresh water on our warming planet - - under which Waukesha was allowed to seek a diversion as an exception to a diversion ban?
Stay tuned.
We'll also see if the Wisconsin DNR, which has long agreed with the city that all the sprawl zones in an expanded service territory beyond Waukesha's city limits - - including areas which had never asked for a diversion - - had to be sent some of the diverted water under state law.
Waukesha's application had asked for permission to divert a daily maximum of 10.1 million gallons and the reviewers are recommending 8.2 million gallons.
The city's current daily usage is about 6 million gallons.
Years ago, the city asked Gov. Jim Doyle to declare Waukesha already eligible for a 24 million gallon daily maximum diversion, but that request, made confidentially, went nowhere.
So - - the question now is: Do Waukesha and the state swallow the repeatedly=trimmed back recommendation, or head to court and risk negating the historic, 2008 US/Canadian agreement - - and the long-term health of the world's largest supply of fresh water on our warming planet - - under which Waukesha was allowed to seek a diversion as an exception to a diversion ban?
Stay tuned.
4 comments:
This is not "good" news as it is an indication that the plan is going to be APPROVED. Do you really believe Waukesha is going to abide by anything in the agreement once they get access?
This is not about whether 8 or 10 million gallons a day are diverted to a community that has access to all the safe water it needs (this is not about, despite the misrepresentations the proposal is based on, radium or not-enough water). The Canadian representatives on the board have no vote.
The majority of the remaining governors work for Koch interests and insiders are saying the remaining Governors will not come forward, as a group or individually, and block this.
The precedent undermines every other attempt to protect Great Lakes Water. But even worse -- who is going to stop Waukesha from drawing whatever amount of water it chooses? Scott Walker and his gang of thugs?
Waukesha "risk negating the historic, 2008 US/Canadian agreement"?
They have already violated it with their intellectually dishonest claim that videos in threads downstairs" prove their diversion has nothing to do with radium or even limited water availability.
"negating the historic, 2008 US/Canadian agreement" is not a glitch -- IT'S A FEATURE!
All the rules in the world are of no value without compliance, which sadly only comes, if at all, with enforcement.
Road signs don't work either if there is no compliance, and since there often is not, that is why we have traffic law enforcement officers to maintain order.
As others have indicated, there is no enforcement mechanism here, no one to watch over the City's actions and enforce the terms of their application. IMHO the City of Waukesha and the State of Wisconsin have absolutely no intention of complying with a single word of any agreement, unless the agreement grants them anything and everything they want.
Waukesha is risking federal discrimination complaints against it's poor, elderly, and minorities if there are less costly, practical, and reasonable alternatives to a Lake Michigan option.
It almost seems Waukesha wants to drive those who can least afford a high water bill from the city - a purging of the poor.
Is that how redevelopment works in the City of Waukesha?
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