MEDIA CONTACT:
Dan Duchniak, P.E.
(262) 409-4440 w / (262) 352-5142 c
Shawn N. Reilly, Mayor of the City of Waukesha, issued the following statement regarding the Great Lakes Compact Council’s official decision to reaffirm its approval for Waukesha to access Lake Michigan as its future drinking water source.
“Today’s final ruling by the Governors of all eight Great Lakes states as members of the Great Lakes Compact Council is another step forward for the future for the citizens of Waukesha. We are one step closer toward providing a clean, reliable and sustainable drinking water source for our citizens,” said Mayor Shawn Reilly.
“The Compact Council ruled in our favor on every count – noting that the Cities Initiative failed to show the Compact Council’s decision was incorrect. It also ends any additional administrative remedies available to the Cities Initiative to reopen the process.
“The Compact Council made the right call last year. We appreciate their dedication in examining the facts of our application, rehearing the evidence about how our circumstances are unique, and after careful consideration coming to the same conclusion. Now, we can focus on designing and building a system that allows Lake Michigan water to be loaned to the city of Waukesha as our drinking water supply with 100 percent of the borrowed water returned to Lake Michigan via the Root River.
“While the Cities Initiative could appeal this order through the federal courts, this would be an expensive exercise and it’s the wrong thing to do. The purpose of the Great Lakes Compact is to ensure that these water use decisions are made by the Great Lakes states and provinces, and not by the federal government. We hope the Cities Initiative will now join us in creating a world-class water program that will not only serve our community well into the next century but also be the standard for sustainability and protecting our Great Lakes and the Root River.”
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The decision can be found at: http://www.waukeshadiversion.org/media/1898/compact-council-opinion-on-glslci-request-for-hearing-5-4-17.pdf
