Waukesha water war continues to rage

[GLF]

The situation became even steamier this past week as attorneys for the Waukesha Water Utility asserted in a letter that the city really does not need to apply for approval for access to Lake Michigan water.

Citing a similar case in an Indiana town, the utility argues Waukesha does not need to qualify as a new diversion of water from the lake under a federal law passed in 1986 because the aquifer under the city serves as a ground water tributary to Lake Michigan.

The utility is seeking a long-term supply to replace its use of the deep, underground aquifer; that reservoir has been determined as having too much radium content, through recent tests by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

http://onmilwaukee.com/politics/articles/wispol100606.html?9878