Waukesha-area business leaders say they’re “thrilled” the city’s request to draw water from Lake Michigan has been approved.
The request, a first-of-its-kind exemption under the Great Lakes Compact, was approved yesterday by the eight states surrounding the Great Lakes. The city would get 8.2 million gallons each day from Lake Michigan and return the same amount of treated wastewater through the Root River.
Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly applauded the decision, calling it the culmination of more than a decade of work.
“The vote today means the city can now move forward in providing a reliable, sustainable, and safe supply of drinking water for its residents,” Reilly said. “We fully respect the specific conditions spelled out by the states and provinces as part of this approval and we are committed to compliance.”
Suzanne Kelley, the Waukesha County Business Alliance president, said the “decision is a key economic driver for the county and region as a whole.”
And Steve Baas, MMAC’s senior VP of governmental affairs, said the states “made a strong statement that environmental protection and economic vitality need not be mutually exclusive goals for the region.”
The approval, though, is getting slammed by environmental groups and a coalition of Great Lakes mayors. Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, said the Root River will have 8 millions of “treated sewage” flowing through it daily.
“This is a sad day for the City of Racine, for environmental justice, and for the future of the compact,” Mason said. “Now that the Great Lakes Governors have elected not to follow some parts of the compact, it remains to be seen what provisions will be ignored.”
Mason said the compact “failed” today. The Racine Dem said he’ll encourage “legal action to require implementation of the Compact in its entirety.”
The Great Lakes Compact Council set conditions on Waukesha before approving the request. The vote means the city is the first U.S. community to get an exemption under the 2008 Great Lakes Compact, which protects that water from being sent outside the basin. The compact lets communities in counties that straddle the basin apply for an exemption if they have no reasonable alternative.
Waukesha argued its water supply isn’t sustainable, partly due to its radium contamination.
Under the approved request, the city would return to the lake about 100 percent of the water diverted. That treated wastewater would flow back to the lake through the Root River, which goes through Racine before emptying into Lake Michigan.
Gov. Scott Walker said Waukesha’s application was the result of a court order to find an alternative water source.
“This is great news for the people who live and work in the Waukesha community,” he said. “The application went through a rigorous 5-year review process, and we appreciate all the work our neighboring Great Lakes States and Provinces did to make the city of Waukesha’s application stronger.”
