I've commented here before that Waukesha seems oblivious to how water utility statements about Waukesha's controversial plan to divert Great Lakes water could grate on the sensibilities of residents in the seven other states and two Canadian provinces who get to help decide whether Waukesha gets water from a shared and stressed ecosystem.
Fresh case in point - - and remember - - the application is incomplete after more than 40 months ago, the Wisconsin DNR still has to draft, release and take comments on what will be a complex legal and scientific Environmental Impact Statement, and the other jurisdictions regionally will review the plan in detail, but Waukesha says it will go ahead and begin hiring system designers now:
The Waukesha Water Utility, however, is running behind schedule because it has taken longer than anticipated to reach this point, said Dan Duchniak, Waukesha Water Utility general manager. That means the utility will likely hire engineers to start designing the massive water supply project before it receives final approval from the governors of the eight Great Lakes states, he said.Before it receives final approval...cart before the horse??...unless the winks have been winked and the nods nodded, as this line in a Waukesha Freeman story on July 17 about the diversion plan suggests that under DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp, the agency has become more cheerleader and less a neutral, regulatory watchdog:
She said that the DNR’s job is to help Waukesha develop an application that could be approved.Related materials, here.
