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updated March 2020

Midwest Environmental Advocates continues to monitor the implementation of the Waukesha Diversion to ensure compliance with the Great Lakes Compact and applicable environmental laws. As part of that implementation, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has issued the following:

• Final Environmental Impact Statement
• Wetland and Waterway Permit
• Wisconsin Pollution Discharge Elimination System Permit

In the fall of 2019, MEA submitted comments on both the EIS, which can be found here, and the WPDES Permit, which can be found here. The comments were submitted on behalf of the Compact Implementation Coalition and several partner organizations.

Among the concerns outlined in those comments is DNR’s failure to adequately analyze all cost-effective alternatives to the project. Given the availability of cost-effective alternatives, there is also concern that Waukesha’s request to return its wastewater to Lake Michigan through the Root River does not comply with the requirement that diverted water be returned “as close as practicable to the place at which the water is withdrawn,” especially since Waukesha switch water suppliers from Oak Creek to Milwaukee.

Once DNR issues all permits necessary for the Waukesha Diversion, it will issue a final diversion approval that addresses all the conditions the Great Lakes Compact Council placed on its approval of the project and compliance with Wisconsin’s legislation implementing the Great Lakes Compact. Waukesha plans to begin its diversion of Lake Michigan water in 2023.

Case Summary

Waukesha’s diversion of water from Lake Michigan to the City of Waukesha and adjoining areas was the first test of the Great Lakes Compact’s ban on diversions of Great Lake water. The Compact included 2 exceptions to this ban-- for a community straddling the Great Lakes watershed divide and for a community in a county straddling the divide—and Waukesha met this latter exception.

Despite a flawed application and widespread opposition to this diversion, with over 39,000 people from all around the Basin raising concerns, the Regional Body approved an exception to the ban on diversions for Waukesha, with limited conditions. Waukesha is now in the process of implementing their diversion plan, which includes construction of drinking water pipelines from Milwaukee and sanitary pipes to return treated wastewater back to Lake Michigan via the Root River.

The Compact Implementation Coalition (CIC) opposed this diversion because it did not meet the spirit or letter of the law, and created a bad precedent for other communities around the Basin seeking to take water from the Great Lakes. Any weakening of the Great Lakes Compact threatens the precious water that the Compact was enacted to protect. The CIC continues to watchdog the state permitting process and will be holding Waukesha accountable for meeting the conditions in the diversion approval as well as all state and federal regulations.