Join Waukesha resident Brien Lee and his blog, Sir Fido, as they explore the city and report on the interesting things they find.
Waukesha's water problem is my problem because it will take more than a higher water bill to get me to move. The less expensive the solution the better, for all of us.
There was a time not long ago when Milwaukee workers were hauling their water from home, and maybe still do, because the quality of Milwaukee's water wasn't the greatest. Remember cryptosporidium? I myself never had a problem with it, but now Milwaukee's water is more desirable than ours?
We're periodically reminded of the deep tunnel mess and the state of the Milwaukee sewer system so, to avoid paying for that fix, Waukesha's solution cannot involve that.
One of the pieces I read mentioned using Fox River water if only it had an adequate volume year round.
The Fox used to be a lot cleaner, the only ones foolish enough to swim in it now are the water skiers. My choice would be to drink radium-laced water any day before drinking from the Fox but, if the city could clean it up enough to drink, I'd be willing to try it.
As anyone who's lived in Waukesha knows, the Fox in the spring has more than enough volume - and if the dragonfly is under we really have a problem - so all we really need is a really big reservoir if indeed the Fox can be made drinkable.
The largest reservoir I can think of happens to be right next to the Fox - the Payne and Dolan gravel pits in the City of Waukesha. I'm not suggesting either pit would be available, but I'm told that the west pit is no longer used for quarrying. As most of the water taken out would later be returned to the Fox I can't foresee a big environmental issue there.
Our solution is going to cost millions, if it hasn't already, so I thought I'd add my two cents.
