Racine Mayor Not Sold On Waukesha Water Plan

Racine’s mayor is raising concerns about Waukesha’s proposal to get drinking water from Lake Michigan.

Waukesha would obtain the drinking water from the city of Oak Creek, but then pipe treated wastewater down the Root River that runs through Racine on the way to Lake Michigan. Racine Mayor John Dickert questioned whether Waukesha’s treatment plant would remove enough phosphorus, as well as pharmaceutical chemicals that might be carried into the water from human waste.

“What I’m saying is I just don’t want it,” Dickert said. “I don’t want any more pharmaceuticals. I don’t want any more phosphorus, I just don’t want it.”

Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly said the discharge water would meet state standards. Representatives of a Great Lakes governors group reviewing Waukesha’s application for lake Michigan water will visit Wisconsin in about 10 days.