Great Lakes. Image: Flickr, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Eight U.S. states have thrown their support to one small Wisconsin city. Yesterday, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and his fellow Great Lakes governors voted to approve a request from the city of Waukesha, Wisconsin, to divert more than a million gallons of water directly from Lake Michigan. Waukesha is a suburb of Milwaukee that lies about 15 miles inland. Its municipal water supply is contaminated by radium and the EPA required the community to find another source.
The agreement is the first of its kind in the Great Lakes region.
Current State talks with Great Lakes journalist and Current State commentator Gary Wilson and Grant Trigger, who represented Michigan and the Snyder administration on a panel that studied Waukesha’s request. Last month, that panel recommended the approval of Waukesha’s request with Mr. Trigger voting in the majority.
This story first appeared on WKAR’s Current State and is republished here with permission.