UPDATED: Milwaukee Council Moves Forward on Waukesha Water Request

The Milwaukee Common Council voted Tuesday without comment to effectively begin conversations with the as Waukesha looks to purchase Lake Michigan water. The resolution begins the study portion before the two communities enter into negotiations.

“The Common Council directs all city departments and agencies to cooperate with the Milwaukee Water Works, the Legislative Reference Bureau and the Department of City Development in providing all necessary information for studies of proposed water service agreements pursuant to this resolution,” states the resolution passed by the Milwaukee Common Council on Tuesday.

The resolution was forward to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to sign.

Waukesha faces a June 2018 court-ordered deadline to reduce radium levels in its water supply. The city is looking to purchase Great Lakes water from Milwaukee, Oak Creek or Racine to address that. Waukesha’s Common Council has supported the request and has submitted an application requesting that all Great Lakes states support its water diversion request. Because Waukesha is not in the Great Lakes basin, it needs to pump the water past the Subcontinental Divide and has to gain approval from all the governors of the eight states and premiers of the two Canadian provinces that border the Great Lakes before doing so.

Waukesha already has begun water purchase discussions with Oak Creek and Racine. Waukesha will have to return the water to Lake Michigan if it is successful in obtaining approval.

The Milwaukee Common Council, in its resolution, is asking that the City of Waukesha provide the council with a written report about certain city issues. Milwaukee is asking that the report include:

• A comprehensive plan.
• A comprehensive housing plan and can demonstrate that such plan has resulted in the creation of affordable housing opportunities that have resulted in racial, age and income diversification, with data on the percentage of population in assisted and affordable housing that is age 30 or less, above age 30 and below 65, and age 65 and above.
• A comprehensive public transportation plan and can demonstrate that such plan has resulted in the expansion and improvement of public transportation links between people living in Milwaukee and job opportunities in the community which has applied for water service.  

The resolution passed by the Milwaukee Common Council directs Milwaukee Water Works to prepare and submit a written evaluation of Waukesha’s request, including:

• A feasibility analysis of the proposed sale of water, which shall include increased revenue
• Cost of production
• Effect on the city's water rates
• Impact on capacity utilization and any required capital costs
• Other information the Milwaukee Water Works deems relevant to the Milwaukee council's consideration.

The Legislative Reference Bureau is also to provide an analysis of the following issues:

• The reason for the request for water (e.g., whether the request for water is the result of a water shortage, water contamination, public health concerns, drought or some other condition).
• The economic profile of the community, including tax rate, assessed valuation per capita, median household income, per capita income and median home value.
• Poverty rates, minority representation and other demographic and community characteristic data it finds to be pertinent.
• The current status and an analysis of past and future trends relating to the availability of public transportation and affordable housing.
• The environmental impact of the proposed sale.
• Other information that the bureau finds pertinent to the Common Council's consideration of the proposed water service request.

Milwaukee’s Community Development Department is to prepare a report for the Milwaukee Common Council involving:

• Whether the water can be used directly or indirectly to facilitate new residential, industrial, retail or commercial development in the community that has applied for water service, and the value of such development and the number of new jobs and residents that such development will generate.
• Potential negative social and economic impacts on the city due to lost opportunities for attracting new businesses and jobs to Milwaukee, and the loss of businesses and jobs that exist in Milwaukee.
• The current land use patterns in the community that has applied for water service and expected trends in land use if Milwaukee provides water to the community.

 The construction costs for a pipeline to and from Milwaukee are estimated at $164 million, at $261 million for Oak Creek and $312 million for Racine. However, those figures are estimates, include a 25 percent contingency and are dependent on negotiations.

Editor's note: an earlier version of this story states that the Milwaukee Common Council's vote begins negotiations. It is the precursor to negotiations as the two communities prepare data for a potential water sales agreement.