U.S. city defends plan to draw water from Great Lakes in face of opposition
TORONTO — An American city is defending its plan to draw water from the Great Lakes, saying Canadian and U.S. mayors trying to block the move should be ignored.
The Wisconsin city of Waukesha argues a decision last year that gave it permission to pipe water from Lake Michigan was error-free, protects the environment and does not need to be revisited in any way.
The city of 70,000 had asked to take water from the Great Lakes because its own aquifer is running low and the water is contaminated with high levels of naturally occurring cancer-causing radium.
It argued that although it’s located outside the boundary of the Great Lakes basin, it is part of a county straddling that geographical line and should be allowed access to the lake’s water.