Pewaukee consultants recommend pursuing Lake Michigan supply via Waukesha; council adopts service-area plan

Consultants from Strand told the Pewaukee Common Council at a public hearing that the city should pursue a Lake Michigan water supply via the Waukesha Water Utility as the recommended alternative in its Water Supply Service Area Plan, and the council voted to adopt the plan.

"An overall objective is to understand the viability of switching to Lake Michigan source now before investing millions of dollars in the groundwater system," said Ben Wood, senior project engineer with Strand, as he summarized the study and the regulatory context that requires a service-area plan under NR 854. Wood said the plan responds to looming water-quality and capacity challenges: PFAS contamination is affecting shallow wells and radionuclides affect deep aquifer wells, and the consultants estimate more than $50,000,000 will be needed over the next five years to address water-quality and capacity needs.

Strand evaluated three broad approaches: continuing on a groundwater strategy (with additional wells and treatment), purchasing Lake Michigan water through the Waukesha wholesale arrangement, or a direct connection to Milwaukee. On life-cycle cost alone the differences were modest; when nonmonetary factors such as environmental impact, long-term sustainability, public-health resilience and implementability were scored, "Lake Michigan via Waukesha" scored 76 out of 100 versus 55 for staying on groundwater, the presentation said.

Sydney Morgan, one of the project engineers, told the council the groundwater scenario anticipates roughly eight new wells over 50 years (reduced from ten after model revisions), while interim PFAS treatment and the drilling of Well 13 at the Still River facility would be common to multiple options. The consultants said interim projects are needed to meet PFAS compliance deadlines and to preserve eligibility for state funding programs.

At the public hearing, resident Larry Morinsec raised environmental and liability concerns, asking whether owners of emerging pollutants can be required to pay for cleanup and whether return-flow arrangements might move untreated or insufficiently treated water between basins. "Supreme Court recently ruled in 06/02/2025. You can require owners of emerging pollutants, to clean up their land," Morinsec said, and he urged the council to consider long-term environmental impacts.

Ben Wood responded that radionuclide occurrences are primarily geological in the deep aquifer and not necessarily the result of site pollution, and that recent legal actions against major PFAS manufacturers (he cited DuPont and 3M) have created some settlement money available to water utilities but not enough to fully fund local treatment needs. He said interim projects would treat Well 8 for PFAS and prepare Well 13 for potential radium treatment as conservative, prudent steps.

The consultants described a multi-year path if the city pursues a Great Lakes diversion: further study and return-flow analysis in 2026, possible diversion application activity toward 2027, and design and construction phases thereafter if the diversion were to proceed. The service-area plan is to be submitted to the Department of Natural Resources by Dec. 31, the consultants said.

A council member moved to adopt the study and its recommendations; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.

The presentation flagged several next steps for the council and staff: authorize engineering for the interim PFAS projects to meet funding deadlines (design documents by 06/30/2026), commission a formal rate study to translate modeled costs into customer-rate impacts, and pursue more detailed return-flow and supplier negotiations in 2026. The consultants emphasized that returning treated wastewater under a diversion would be regulated by the Great Lakes Compact and requires careful study of environmental impacts before any application would proceed.

What happens next: the city will upload the draft report to its website next week, staff will follow up on funding and engineering authorizations for interim projects, and the city will submit the service-area plan to the DNR by the stated deadline while pursuing further technical study in 2026.