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Waukesha unveils its request for water

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(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Calling the city’s search for a radium-free water supply “a critical public health issue,” Mayor Larry Nelson on Thursday said a proposed diversion of Great Lakes water to the city was the only safe, reliable and environmentally sustainable option. Simply switching from deep sandstone wells tainted with radium and salt to shallow wells for all of the city’s needs is not sustainable because the pumping would reduce the volume of groundwater feeding wetlands, streams and lakes and would harm those resources, says a draft application for Lake Michigan water that was released Thursday. More

Water

10 Lake County suburbs look to tap Lake Michigan water

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(IL) Chicago Tribune – In what could be the state’s largest collective gulp of Lake Michigan water in nearly two decades, 10 suburbs are seeking approval to tap the vast but closely guarded natural resource. With groundwater supplies drying up and vulnerable to contamination, the Lake County communities that now rely on wells are casting envious eyes on that tantalizingly close supply — the sixth-largest freshwater lake in the world. They propose spending $250 million to lay about 57 miles of pipe and take other steps that would bring Lake Michigan water to the western part of Lake County. More

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Bryan takes lead in drive to protect its precious water

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(OH) Toledo Blade – While the water-blessed Great Lakes region hasn’t encountered Western-style conflicts over water yet, legal scholars expect that to change with the Earth’s population rising and its climate warming.  Increased demands for food, energy, and manufactured goods this century are expected to drive up the value of water everywhere – not just that found at the surface of major lakes, rivers, and streams. More

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Panel approves plan for discounted water

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(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Milwaukee economic development officials would use discounted water rates to help recruit companies from Atlanta and other cities with water supply problems, under a plan endorsed Wednesday. The city would offer reduced rates to Milwaukee’s 100 largest water users that create at least 25 jobs by either moving to the city, or expanding current operations, said Carrie Lewis, Water Works superintendent. More

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Cherry: Bottler fee could revive scholarships

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(MI) Detroit Free Press – Lt. Gov. John Cherry on Thursday proposed using Michigan’s water supply to fund education. Businesses that make a profit by selling Michigan’s water should pay a fee of 10 cents per bottle, Cherry said. That money, in turn, could replace the recently dismantled Promise Scholarship, he said. “We are losing one resource — our talented workforce and the energy of our young people — and we are giving away another resource, our water, for free,” he said. “You don’t need a PhD in mathematics to know this is a terrible equation.”

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Bill package to allow tribes to tap into municipal water passed

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(MI) Bay City Times – A package of bills that would allow the Saganing Eagles Landing Casino to tap into the Saginaw-Midland water supply has been sent to the governor for approval. The bills, sponsored by Sens. Jim Barcia, D-Bay City, and Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, were introduced after it was discovered that only municipalities could join the Saginaw-Midland Municipal Water Supply. Tribes were not included as a municipality. More

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Groundwater proposals to heat up

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(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Brian A. Wolf boasted about the shimmering water and the trophy bass he used to catch from Long Lake in central Wisconsin. But since 2005, the lake has undergone a remarkable transformation: It’s essentially gone. “It’s as if someone pulled the plug in a bathtub,” said Wolf, a property owner on the lake. “This lake is dead.” Wolf and his neighbors blame irrigation on nearby fields as part of the reason for the disappearance of their lake.

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Leasing water system could be a risky move for Chicago

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(IL) Chicago Tribune – Mayor Richard Daley says any part of city government is up for grabs if the price is right. But if he is tempted to dangle Chicago’s vast water system as his next lease deal, he might want to first consult Atlanta, which is still smarting from a botched experiment with privatizing a big-city water supply. Or the mayor could look someplace closer to home, like Bolingbrook, one of dozens of suburbs and downstate communities furious about steep rate increases imposed by a private water operator. More

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One-man fight against pipeline proposal fades to background

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(MI) Flint Journal – The man fighting the plan to run a $600 water pipe from Lake Huron to Genesee County stands alone. Cheboygan County Administrator Michael Overton made that clear in a letter last month to Genesee County officials. Cheboygan County Drain Commissioner Dennis Lennox’s campaign against the water pipe to serve Genesee, Lapeer and Sanilac counties is a one-man band. And he’s dead wrong. More

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Plan for wind turbines at water plant faces federal, local scrutiny

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(MI) Grand Rapids Press – Will the wind someday carry water from Lake Michigan to Grand Rapids water customers? It will if Grand Rapids officials put together a $15 million proposal to build two wind turbines on land the city owns next door to its Lake Michigan Water Filtration Plant. The turbines could generate enough electricity to help power the 15 giant pumps that deliver an average of 40 million gallons of Lake Michigan water to 300,000 customers in Grand Rapids and its suburbs each day. More