Officials to gather testimony on Waukesha’s Lake Michigan application

Representatives of the Great Lakes states will be in Waukesha on Wednesday and Thursday to learn more about the city’s application to use Lake Michigan‘s water as a supply for its residents.

At 1 p.m. Wednesday, officials will meet with both city and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources officials at Carroll University to go over the application.

There will also be a public information meeting starting at 1 p.m. Thursday, followed by a public hearing at 2 p.m., in Carroll University’s Shattuck Music Center, 218 N. East Ave.

The public may attend both the Wednesday briefing and Thursday meeting, and may also testify during the public hearing.

Since the city lies outside the Lake Michigan’s watershed, it needs approval from every state bordering a Great Lake before using its water supply.

The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Resources Council is the governing body of this pact created by each lake-bordering state.

Waukesha’s aquifer is slowly depleting, and is getting more contaminated with sediment as it dries out. A Wisconsin DNR study of the city’s application concluded Lake Michigan is the only viable alternative water source. Follow @alexzank