Surge Predicted in Water Demand: Draft Report Projects 30% Increase for 7-County Region
By Darryl Enriquez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Jul. 21–Demand for clean, drinkable water in the seven-county Milwaukee area is projected to surge nearly 30% during the next quarter-century, fueled by large predicted increases in Waukesha and Kenosha counties, leaving many large water utilities unequipped to handle future loads.
Costs to keep emerging outlying populations showered, laundered and hydrated will be high, especially when the indispensable need for high-pressure water to fight fires is factored in, according to a highly anticipated report on improved water use.
The collective thirsts on an average southeastern Wisconsin day was measured at 200.5 million gallons in 2000, tapped from wells and Lake Michigan. The projected demand by 2035 is about 258 million gallons.
Those findings are contained in a draft version of the Regional Water Supply Plan for Southeastern Wisconsin that’s been under construction at the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission for two years.
Waukesha and Kenosha counties are forecast to have the largest volume of increased demands on water resources through 2035, while Milwaukee County will remain relatively flat, the report says. Ozaukee and Walworth counties, though smaller consumers of water, are predicted to nearly double their municipal water needs.
Brookfield, Waukesha, New Berlin and Oak Creek are among communities that likely will need building and equipment expansions to handle projected increased water demands, the draft report says.
Some water utilities will have trouble supplying enough water during periods of peak demand, while others won’t have the storage capacities or backup systems to get customers through emergencies brought on by power failures and other disasters, the report says.
Another report in August
The agency is examining regional water supply problems in the seven counties it serves — Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington, Racine, Walworth and Kenosha. In late August, the agency is expected to release a draft report outlining possible options on using aquifers and surface water, such as Lake Michigan, to resolve water quality and quantity issues brought on by expected growth in population and real estate, said Bob Biebel, the commission’s special projects environmental engineer.
Regional water troubles have brewed for years on many fronts in the region.
Communities and nearby lakefront property owners have clashed over efforts to sink municipal wells into aquifers that maintain lake levels.
Trouble also occurs when a community looks outside its boundaries for a new source of underground water.
Waukesha’s effort to sink a new well field in the neighboring Town of Waukesha is drawing angry reaction from town residents, prompting Town Chairman Robert Tallinger to label the action “water wars.” A similar move several years ago by the western Waukesha County community of Eagle led to costly court actions, the unseating of a longtime politician and a failed attempt to dissolve the village.
Above ground, the larger issue of diverting Lake Michigan water west of its natural drainage basin to places such as New Berlin and Waukesha is being played out in statehouses throughout the Great Lakes region.
Neither diversion likely will proceed until after Wisconsin passes laws that protect the Great Lakes from undesired withdrawals to areas outside its basin.
The report looks at water sources, water supply systems and the capacity of those systems to adequately meet projected water demands. At this point, report figures do not address the potential sale of Lake Michigan water to outlying communities, Biebel said.
A final report listing cost estimates of potential solutions could be released as early as March.
Tom Grisa, director of public works for Brookfield and a member of the group that is overseeing the report, said he will use its findings to help chart future water acquisitions for his city.
“We’re in pretty good shape for now and the future, but I’ll take this report and our 2001 water study to plot out our future needs,” which could include Lake Michigan water for the eastern half of Brookfield, Grisa said.
Water demand forecasts were based on the agency’s 2035 land use plan and information compiled and analyzed by the agency and the engineering firm of Ruekert /Mielke Inc., he said.
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