How Would Ecosystems Downstream Fare if Waukesha Buys Lake Michigan Water?

How Would Ecosystems Downstream Fare if Waukesha Buys Lake Michigan Water? - WUWM, July 29, 2015
Author: Susan Bence

Waukesha hopes to pump in 10 million gallons a day from Oak Creek’s utility, then treat and return the water to Lake Michigan via the Root River.

The city says it’s the best way to solve its existing underground source that it’s becoming more tainted with cancer-causing radium.

Water utility manager Dan Duchniak says the $200 million proposal a responsible investment. “(There are) no environmental impacts associated with it. Actually there are environmental benefits associated with it. The decision is clear – Lake Michigan is the only reasonable alternative for the City of Waukesha,” he says.

All along, the city has drawn water from wells and then releases treated water into the Fox River. This river a small piece of a massive basin that funnels water from a 13-state area down the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico.

Jim Drought is a hydrologist hired by a consortium of environmental groups to review Waukesha’s plan. “We’re looking at the Fox River as we’re speaking and a significant portion of its base flow comes from treated effluent from the City of Waukesha,” he says.

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