By Dennis A. Shook   Published Nov 17, 2006 at 5:14 AM
A decision on allowing Waukesha County to access Lake Michigan water could be just weeks away. And that decision could significantly impact development patens throughout the region for the foreseeable future.

But the special Legislative Council Committee on the Great Lakes Water Resource Compact this week deferred action on a proposal by Waukesha Water Utility General Manager Dan Duchniak that would have allowed the community to access the water that so far has been denied. It will likely consider the language at its Dec. 15 Madison meeting or final session set for January.

Duchniak, a public member of the committee, proposed that the committee agree to create language in the proposed compact that states, "Tributary groundwater means the groundwater that would naturally flow to the Great Lakes in the absence of human activities that would influence that flow."

If that definition applied and the compact language was recommended by the committee and passed by the state Legislature, Waukesha would be considered part of the basin and eligible to access Lake Michigan water.

Waukesha's water supply has been limited because the deep municipal wells have brought up wate that has radium levels that violate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards. Waukesha is located west of the subcontinental divide that has been identified as the border of the Lake Michigan basin.

The divide runs through New Berlin near Sunnyslope Road and proceeds northeast, actually passing through the parking lot of the Brookfield Square Shopping Mall. Groundwater east of the divide tends to flow back to Lake Michigan while groundwater west of that geological point tends to flow toward the Mississippi River.

But the new compact being considered by eight Great Lakes states and two provinces in Canada would qualify Waukesha County as a straddling county, meaning because part of the county is in the basin, Lake Michigan water can be accessed by communities throughout the county.

But the key stipulation in that compact is that a nearly equal amount of wastewater must be sent by those communities back eastward across the divide to replace the lost water.As first reported in this space, Waukesha is said to be considering using the Root River as a means to return that wastewater, rather than trying to build a prohibitively expensive piping system for the return.

Environmentalist and others opposing the access call it a diversion a diversion and want that basin boundary to be the one that is to the east, which is much closer to the traditional Lake Michigan basin. Those environmentalists argue that straddling communities ought to have extensive water conservation measures in place before being allowed to access Lake Michigan water.

Another major question brought by committee member Bill Mielke, president of Waukesha consultants Ruekert & Mielke,  is whether other governors can still simply veto any compact implementation language that Wisconsin includes.

State Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, a committee member, said she could not support a Wisconsin version of the compact that could be unilaterally altered by other states. She has referred to Michigan Gov. Jennifer Grantholm who has said Michigan opposes any such diversions of water.

Compact advocates, including members of the state department of Natural resources, say that individual governors currently have the power to simply veto any diversions without even offering any reasons. The new compact would request the rationale for opposing diversions and would also establish an appeals process, the advocates point out.

The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission is also formulating a long-term water use plan for the seven-county region through 2035. That report is due out sometime in 2007.