Lake Michigan

Waukesha, Chutzpah Country

September 6, 2011 by The Political E...

You have to hand it to Waukesha: It spent years fighting federal clean drinking water standards and dunned its water utility ratepayers big-dollar legal fees as inflation and the passage of time kept the meter running and added to the cost of the inevitable, eventual and predictable order-to-fix.

And new consultant and legal fees have been spent to create the inevitable and eventual and fix - - a controversial application to divert Lake Michigan water into Waukesha - -  and even though Waukesha is in the heart of one of the reddest, anti-big-government counties and area codes in America, it wants $75 million in federal grant subsidy to help defray some of its inevitable, eventual costs - - and its rabidly anti-spending, anti-earmark Republican Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner is already working on it.

Leading Milwaukee Experts Have A Water-For-Development Formula

August 28, 2011 by The Political E...

I recommend this piece about water and jobs from Sunday's Crossroads section, with special attention to the Akron, Ohio model:

Genesee...Town Of Waukesha...Pewaukee...Delafield: Who ISN'T In Waukesha City's Water Application?

August 25, 2011 by The Political E...

Man, oh man - - it's hard to keep up with the other communities included in the City of Waukesha's application for a precedent-setting diversion of Lake Michigan water.

Though the application is in the hands of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and will be there, I'm guessing, for a year - - get me a scorecard.

And so, apparently, add the Town of Delafield to the list, though as is true with the Town of Waukesha, I don't remember any action by local Delafield officials to opt into the application - - meaning not just the benefits (clean, abundant water) but also costs and responsibilities under state law and the Great Lakes Compact (a high-bar, demonstrated need, public input, conservation plans with demonstrated results, and so on).

The regional planning commission (SEWRPC) may be responsible for the application's shirttail  relations, like Delafield, et al, because the planning agency produced a diverted water service delivery map required for Waukesha's application, but SEWERPC never held a hearing on which communities or whose residents thought who should receive the diverted water, its benefits and obligations/costs.