A decades-long effort to get Waukesha connected to Lake Michigan for the city’s water supply is nearing its end.
Waukesha currently gets its water from an underground aquifer, which Mayor Shawn Reilly said long ago was deemed insufficient.
“What it comes down to is that we have a water supply system that is not sustainable,” Reilly told WTMJ’s Steve Scaffidi. “It’s our deep water aquifer, it is declining and also the water quality is not good.”
The 36 miles of pipe will run through Waukesha, Muskego, New Berlin, Franklin, Greenfield, West Allis & Milwaukee. In addition to the pipeline there will also be pumping stations set up in Milwaukee and Waukesha.
The project is being paid for through a combination of rate payer fees, federal water infrastructure loans as well as loans from the State of Wisconsin.
“This had to happen,” Waukesha Water Utility General Manager Dan Duchniack said. “This was the cheapest option for us to deal with the water issue.”
“This is a great display of regional cooperation,” Duchniak said.
The Great Water Alliance was initially given approval for the water plan in 2016, construction began in 2020, and Reilly says the program should be up and running by the fall of 2023.
You can find more information, including the pipeline routes, here.