Walker Doubles Down On Support For Waukesha Water Plan

Gov. Scott Walker says rabble-rousers might try to sink Waukesha’s application to pipe in drinking water from Lake Michigan.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced this week that it will soon send Waukesha’s water diversion application to the other Great Lakes states for review.

Friday Walker told the Waukesha County Business Alliance that he’ll reach out to governors and other state officials in the region, “to let them know that no matter what they might hear from those who are going to rabble-rouse about this, that this was an objective, and a thorough and a scientifically sound process.”

Walker later told reporters that the criticism might come from people in other states who don’t want any water diversion under the 2008 Great Lakes Compact.

Wisconsin environmental groups say Waukesha wants more from Lake Michigan than the city needs, and hasn’t done enough to conserve its current groundwater-based water supply.