Water Pipeline Construction Planned for March 2015

Construction on a pipeline from Oak Creek to Waukesha could begin in March 2015 as the city looks to develop a sustainable water source that will address water quality and quantity issues while meeting a June 2018 deadline to reduce the radium levels in the water supply.

The Waukesha Water Utility has released a revised schedule after it finalized its water service area. After much debate, the Town of Waukesha finally decided to include the rural properties in the city’s future water service area.

The Town of Waukesha originally declined to allow the majority of town land in the water service area. But with a new town chairman and many annexation request causing the town to lose taxable land to the city, the town board reversed its decision.

The future water service area with the inclusion of the Town of Waukesha land was approved Tuesday night.

The city’s final version of the application to divert Great Lakes water will be delivered to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in July. The initial application was made in 2010 with the understanding that further information may need to be added to the application.

Because Waukesha is just outside the Great Lakes Basin, it needs the approval of all Great Lakes states to purchase water from Oak Creek.

The final environmental impact statement is expected to be released in January after a 45-day period of public comment starting in November. The DNR would then have to forward the application to other states.

See Related:

• Residents Find City’s Water Problem Not Just About Radium
• $183M Pipeline Planned to Oak Creek