A panel of governors on a Great Lakes regional council on June 21 has approved a request from Waukesha to divert water from Lake Michigan.
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Molly Flanagan joined us to discuss the compromises that allowed Waukesha’s proposal to move forward and the precedent it sets for the future of the Great Lakes Compact. Any community that is completely outside the Great Lakes Basin is prohibited from applying for withdrawals.
“Somebody could bring a challenge to it, but I would think there are low odds with any kind of challenge”, he said.
“Water is one of our greatest resources and we are very fortunate to belong to an organization that protects, restores and promotes the health of the greatest source of fresh water on earth”, he added.
Waukesha will withdraw 31 million litres daily and shrink its water service area. Alternatives proposed by critics of the city’s request could have had negative impacts on the lakes, rivers, streams and underground aquifer of Waukesha County.
The plan approved Tuesday has seen numerous revisions, including a reduction in the maximum amount of water the city will be allowed to take. Even an independent analysis conducted by a Wisconsin-based coalition of environmental groups – the Wisconsin Compact Implementation Coalition – concluded that Waukesha can, in fact, meet its own water needs by treating existing groundwater wells for radium just as neighboring communities now do. Officials in Racine, for instance, have vehemently opposed the proposal because Waukesha’s treated wastewater would flow through their community before reaching Lake Michigan. “During that time, my administration gathered additional information about the Waukesha Diversion Project from a variety of communities and stakeholders, which I carefully reviewed”, said Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton in a statement following Tuesday’s vote.
They also noted that the water diverted to Waukesha will be returned to Lake Michigan, resulting in no net loss of water to the Great Lakes.
A group of US and Canadian mayors of cities in the basin, meeting as the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, approved a resolution last week stating flatly that “the Waukesha Application does not meet the terms of the”.
“There are a lot of emotions and politics surrounding this issue but voting yes – in cooperation with our Great Lakes neighbors – is the best way to conserve one of our greatest natural resources”, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said, according to the AP.
Whether it also represents a triumph for the Great Lakes Compact will take a little longer to assess.
The mayors had gathered in Niagara Falls, NY for the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative’s (GLSCI) annual meeting and conference.
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Waukesha, for its part, must be relieved that it will have a clean source of drinking water for its residents.
