Committee Expects To Make Recommendations On Waukesha’s Plan To Take Lake Michigan Water

A committee looking at the city of Waukesha’s plan to pipe in drinking water from Lake Michigan is expected to make its final recommendation on Wednesday morning.

The panel of representatives from the ten Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces spent all day Tuesday going through Waukesha’s application. Some members planned to contact leaders of their government before taking a final vote, but Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly said he’s cautiously optimistic.

“It looks promising that they’re going to approve 8.2 million gallons per day for the city of Waukesha. I guess if that happens, I’d be happy with that,” he said.

But Reilly said he wishes the panel wouldn’t have trimmed more neighboring communities from the project. The committee recommended cutting the number of homes that could qualify for lake water to just Waukesha’s current customers and some in the town of Waukesha. Other homes in the Town of Genesee and New Berlin could be removed from the water district proposal.

Laurie Longtine, of the Waukesha Environmental Action League, said she’s glad the potential water service area might be reduced.

“And that the regional body recognized that these are areas of the townships that have their own private wells, private septic systems and that there’s not a need in the foreseeable future,” she said.

But Longtine said she and other members of an environmental coalition raised many concerns during a recent public comment period, and she said the group needs to study what comes out of Wednesday’s meeting.

All the Great Lakes governors would also have to approve Waukesha’s plan perhaps as soon as next month.