Should a Wisconsin city with a contaminated groundwater supply be allowed to siphon drinking water from Lake Michigan?
Waukesha's groundwater supply has a radium problem. Being 17 miles from Lake Michigan, Waukesha's proposed solution is to draw water from the lake.
But according to the Great Lakes Compact, Waukesha cannot just lay down a pipeline and start drinking Lake Michigan water. It has to ask, and all eight Great Lakes governors have to say "yes."
Today, the State of Michigan is holding a public hearing on Waukesha's request.
Peter Annin wrote a book about all of this called the Great Lakes Water Wars. He also co-directs the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin.
Annin tells us about the situation in Waukesha and the city's proposed plan in our conversation above.
