Politics & Government

Waukesha Willing to Hold Meeting in Milwaukee About Wastewater Return Flow

Waukesha Water Utility General Manager Dan Duchniak sends letter to Milwaukee alderman expressing wishes to "separate facts from the rumors" as Waukesha seeks to purchase Lake Michigan water.

The Waukesha Water Utility is willing to hold an open house or informational meeting in Milwaukee to give its residents information about Waukesha’s return flow that is included in the city’s Great Lakes water application.

Two Milwaukee aldermen came out with that stated they believed the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources should have held its public hearings in Milwaukee.

A letter from Waukesha Water Utility General Manager Dan Duchniak to Alderman Michael Murphy and to the Valley Park Civic Association, which shared the views of Murphy, extended the invitation so Milwaukee constituents could “separate the facts from the rumors regarding the plan and allow them to understand how it may or may not affect them.”

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“More importantly, we would like to put to rest any fears they may have as it relates to increased flooding of Underwood Creek,” Duchniak said in the letter. “We understand that flooding has been a serious concern for these property owners in recent years and that MMSD and others have spent significant dollars to remedy the problem. Waukesha would not consider a plan that in any way would threaten to exacerbate these problems or put any property at risk."

The news release from Murphy states that because the water is proposed to pipe wastewater to Underwood Creek and then to the Menomonee River to the Lake Michigan harbor.

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“Where’s the public hearing for Milwaukee? Milwaukee residents also deserve a public hearing because they too have a right to know how the diversion and effluent via the Menomonee River will impact them in terms of water quality and possible flooding issues,” Murphy said in the news release.

Public hearings were held and . Reactions to the Lake Michigan plan were varied at each hearing.

Waukesha is looking to purchase from Milwaukee, Oak Creek or Racine as it needs to reduce the radium levels that are currently in the city’s water supply. The city is under pressure to meet a June 2018 radium compliance deadline and is in the process of developing a new water supply to address declining water levels and quality in its groundwater wells.


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