Lake Michigan water sale to Waukesha backed by some Milwaukee officials

The Journal Sentinel reports some Milwaukee water officials favor selling lake water to Waukesha.

A Milwaukee Common Council committee called Wednesday for the city to formally declare its interest in selling water to Waukesha.

Environmentalists and civil rights advocates urged the panel to wait until the state Department of Natural Resources has written rules to govern the process. But aldermen and Milwaukee Water Works Superintendent Carrie Lewis said the resolution was needed to keep the city in competition with Racine and Oak Creek to supply water to Waukesha.

Waukesha is seeking to buy Lake Michigan water to replace its groundwater wells, which are contaminated with radium. Because the community is outside the Great Lakes basin – but in a county that straddles the subcontinental divide – the Great Lakes Compact requires it to follow an intricate application process that includes winning the approval of all eight Great Lakes governors.

As part of that application process, Waukesha officials have asked communities willing to sell water to Waukesha to submit letters of interest by Jan. 31. Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson said his city already has received letters of interest from the Racine and Oak Creek water utilities.

But Waukesha officials prefer to buy water from Milwaukee for cost reasons. Milwaukee’s water already is distributed to nearby suburbs, and the connection would not require miles of new pipeline.

As endorsed by the Milwaukee council’s Public Works Committee, Milwaukee’s letter would spell out the compact’s requirement for Waukesha to develop a plan to return water to the Great Lakes basin.

Waukesha is already working on a plan to do that, using Underwood Creek. The water return plan is crucial to the deal, said Ald. Michael Murphy and Leslie Silletti, an aide to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

Environmental advocates Jodi Habush Sinykin and Peter McAvoy said the application would be premature without DNR rules governing the process. Barrett and Murphy originally wanted to wait for the DNR rules, too. But Natural Resources Secretary Matt Frank has said the compact provides sufficient guidance to move forward without the rules.

Ald. Bob Bauman, the committee chairman, accused the DNR of “foot-dragging,” and Murphy said the department was being swayed by “political winds” rather than science.

The letter also would reiterate Milwaukee’s policy linking water sales to a suburb’s land use, affordable housing and public transit.

Karyn Rotker, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, accused Waukesha of moving backward on affordable housing. She said the city’s Plan Commission had supported reducing the number of apartments in the housing mix, despite warnings that the move could disproportionately affect minorities.

Nelson said he would be sharing information on Waukesha’s housing mix and transportation programs with Milwaukee officials as they continue to discuss a water sale. He said his city offers more apartments and other affordable housing than any other Waukesha County community and is likely second only to the city of Milwaukee in the metropolitan area.

The criticism might have been spurred by a long-term goal of increasing the number of owner-occupied homes and condos in the city by 5% in the next 20 years, he said.

Nelson described the committee’s action as “a first step toward a positive response from Milwaukee.” He has been meeting with city officials in recent weeks to discuss the project and is optimistic that the Milwaukee council will agree to send the letter, he said.

Waukesha is not yet asking the three possible suppliers to make a commitment, Nelson said. When the Waukesha Common Council early next year approves an application for Great Lakes water, Nelson said, he will begin seriously negotiating with a seller.

Lewis, Bauman and Milwaukee council President Willie Hines Jr. also said the letter would just start the process and that details would be worked out in negotiations. The full Milwaukee council will consider the issue Dec. 22.