Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Published 1:46 p.m. CT Nov. 28, 2017 | Updated 2:04 p.m. CT Nov. 28, 2017
Don Behm
The Milwaukee Common Council on Tuesday approved a 40year agreement to sell Lake Michigan water to the City of Waukesha.
The deal is expected to yield a net benefit of $42 million in revenue to Milwaukee over the first 20 years, officials said.
Waukesha will pay Milwaukee around $3 million in 2023 to deliver an average of 6 million gallons of lake water a day when service begins that year.
Milwaukee will provide Waukesha with up to an average of 8.2 million gallons a day by midcentury from a connection near S. 60th St. and W. Howard Ave., under terms of the agreement.
The Waukesha Common Common Council is to set to approve the deal Dec. 5.
The deal requires Milwaukee to build a two mile section of pipe from the connection west to S. 84th St. and W. Cold Spring Road. Milwaukee will build and operate a pumping station needed to push the water over the subcontinental divide to Waukesha.
Waukesha will contribute a onetime fee of $2.5 million to help pay for Milwaukee’s $15 million to $20 million cost of building the pipe section and pumping station.
Waukesha will build a pipeline west from S. 84th St. and W. Cold Spring Road to deliver the water to its distribution system.
In June 2016, the eight Great Lakes states approved Waukesha’s request for Lake Michigan water. When the service begins in 2013, Waukesha will stop using its 10 groundwater wells, including seven wells that draw radium contaminated water from a deep sandstone aquifer.