Wisconsin’s #1 Waukesha hater Jim Rowen reports on his blog that DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp will be taking over the management of Waukesha’s Great Lakes water application now that Bruce Baker is leaving the agency. I’m sure Rowen’s horrified, but having the DNR Secretary taking the lead role in managing the application through the process can only be a good thing for Waukesha.
Meanwhile, the town of Waukesha is trying to decide whether to not they want to be include in the potential Waukesha water service area that was created by the DNR (people tend to forget that part of it). It really should be a no-brainer.
Contrary to what the folks at WEAL are saying, supporting the city of Waukesha’s application for Lake Michigan water is to the town’s benefit. If the city of Waukesha is drawing water from the big blue body to the east, the town can drill into the aquifer to their heart’s content. Of course, when the quality of the water diminishes for them, or when regulations on sucking water out of the aquifer make it impossible for the town, they can always tap into the pipeline, too. (I’m sure the city’s Common Council will make paying part of the costs of pipeline construction part of the deal, so it’s a win-win.)
On the other hand, if the city of Waukesha’s application does not go through, town residents should start wondering whose backyards would be convenient for the city to start drilling wells.
See? Everything works out. Now let’s tackle that Libya problem…
