Milwaukee-Waukesha Water Negotiations Break Off
Oak Creek may have better chance at water contract, but still a long way to go before a deal is finalized.
Oak Creek may be in a better position to sell Lake Michigan water to Waukesha now that Milwaukee has apparently broken off negotiations.
According to Waukesha Patch, the conditions Milwaukee has set are "not a workable solution" for Waukesha. Milwaukee wants to negotiate a water sales deal that would include only the city of Waukesha, and not the town of Waukesha, town of Genesee and city of Pewaukee, portions of which are part of Waukesha's future service area.
The state Department of Natural Resources has already said it would not approve those conditions. Assuming talks don't resume, that leaves Racine and Oak Creek as the only two cities negotiating with Waukesha -- the way it has been for the last several months.
Oak Creek officials have said a successful bid could mean a decrease in Oak Creek residents' water bills by some 25 percent and additional revenue to the city.
However, Waukesha still has a long ways to go. The city needs approval from all Great Lakes states because it is just outside the Subcontinental Divide, where water flows naturally to Lake Michigan.
And the clock is ticking -- the city is under a June 2018 deadline to remove radium from the city’s water supplies.
jack ryan
3:56 pm on Saturday, June 23, 2012
Would that be sweet if we sold the water to Waukesha and we paid nothing for the water.
Resident of O.C. Paul
10:39 am on Sunday, June 24, 2012
Like I've said in the past and has been reported on the news: any plans of diverting any water from Lake Michigan has to be approved by the Great Lakes Compact (the committee that governs the use of water within the Great Lakes, and made up of representatives from all 8 states that border them as well as representatives from Canada) which was enacted by the 110th United states congress. Also it has been reported that there are doubts that any plan to send Lake Michigan water to Waukesha will not be approved by the 7 member states in the Great Lakes Compact. If the residents of Waukesha want Lake Michigan water why then don't they move into communities within the basin?
jack ryan
12:54 pm on Sunday, June 24, 2012
Selling of water would be allowed if the same amount of water in some condition were returned to the basin.
RocketMom
1:39 pm on Sunday, June 24, 2012
Is it our problem, that Waukesha did not plan appropriately for growth? Yet, still people are still building houses and moving there. Once the spigot turns on for Lake Michigan water, it will be extremely difficult to turn off. Water is such a basic need for life. I hope your leaders do not make a hasty decision.
This makes me think of the Sci-Fi "I,Robot" movie, where Will Smith is crossing the dried up desert of Lake Michigan. Fact? or Fiction?
Resident of O.C. Paul
9:28 am on Monday, June 25, 2012
I agree, you can't recover water used for washing cars in a driveway or watering flowerbeds and lawns, and you know how we like lush green lawns...unless you're like me and know your lawn will bounce back after it receives enough rain to bring it out of its drought induced dormancy.