Racine---While Waukesha County is celebrating, officials in Racine are seeing the possibility of a protracted legal battle to block a decision that would allow the affluent Milwaukee collar community to draw water from Lake Michigan and then send it back via the Root River.
Representatives of the governors of the states that border the Great Lakes along with their Canadian counterparts unanimously approved the deal during a short meeting in Chicago Tuesday. The vote ended a five year-long process.
Racine Mayor John Dickert and State Representative Cory Mason (D-Racine) view the vote as a horrible precedent that could potentially open the spigot for applications from over 100 communities that face water issues. "It's a bad day for the City of Racine," Dickert said following the vote. "Lake Michigan is not an unlimited resource."
Both Dickert and Mason are concerned about the impact on the Root--a river that winds its way through southeast Wisconsin and empties into Lake Michigan at Racine.
The treated sewage from Waukesha could raise the temperature of the Root, and will include pharmaceuticals and plastics that aren't currently regulated.
No plan or requirement currently exists to monitor Root River water quality.
While the states supported Waukesha's request, Great Lakes mayors and a number of environmental groups fought the application.
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