Regional Water Supply Plan
About the Study
SEWRPC has underway the conduct of a regional water supply study. That study will lead to the preparation and adoption of a regional water supply system plan. The preparation of the regional water supply plan represents the third, and final, element of the SEWRPC regional water supply management program. The first two elements, comprising the development of basic groundwater inventories and the development of a groundwater simulation model for the Southeastern Wisconsin Region, were completed over the past several years. These elements involved interagency partnership programs with the U.S. Geological Survey, the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the water supply utilities serving the Region.
The regional water supply plan is intended to include the following major components:
- Development of water supply service areas and of forecast demand for water use.
- Development of recommendations for water conservation efforts to reduce water demand.
- Evaluation of alternative sources of supply, culminating in identification of recommended sources of supply for each service area and in recommendations for development of the basic infrastructure required to deliver that supply.
- Identification of groundwater recharge areas to be protected from incompatible development.
- Specification of any new institutional structures found necessary to carry out the plan recommendations.
- Identification of any constraints to development levels in subareas of the Region that may emanate from water supply sustainability concerns.
The regional water supply plan will have a design year of 2035. The 2035 regional land use plan serves as a basis for the development of the water supply plan.
Advisory Committee
Advisory committees form a most fundamental type of public involvement, with strong prospects for the planning program contributions to be of a broad and representative nature. The Regional Water Supply Planning Advisory Committee was established by action of the Regional Planning Commission to guide the regional water supply planning program.
The composition of this committee includes broad membership, including knowledgeable and concerned representatives of the constituent counties and water utilities, of related State and Federal agencies, and of the academic, business, agricultural, and environmental communities. The committee is designed to represent the entire study area. Included in its purview is a review of the draft planning report preparation and related technical work at important milestones. The committee also will be asked to review and provide advice on all important technical matters and decisions.
The SEWRPC Environmental Justice Task Force (EJTF) recommended that a socio-economic impact analysis be conducted attendant to the recommendations set forth in the regional water supply plan. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Economic Development (CED) has been engaged by SEWRPC to undertake that analytical activity. Work on this effort will be completed during the first quarter of 2010. The EJTF will consider the findings of the CED and may submit recommendations to the Advisory Committee for that committee’s consideration.
Public Informational Meetings and Newsletters
A series of public informational meetings on the preliminary regional water supply plan was held early in 2009. Display boards used at those meetings may be found here. The public comments received from that process have been provided to the Advisory Committee for their consideration. The Advisory Committees’ work will conclude just as soon as it receives any recommendations that the EJTF may have that emanate from the socio-economic impact analysis of the preliminary plan.
The links below provide access directly to the summary materials and newsletters that have been developed to date setting forth the findings and recommendations of the regional water supply study.
Study Presentations
Over the course of conduct of the study, a number of presentations have been made. The links below provide direct access to the materials used in those presentations.
- February 15-16, 2005, Straddling the Divide – Water Supply Planning In The Lake Michigan Region
- February 22, 2005, Public Policy Forum
- September 19, 2005, 2005 WCA Annual Conference
- February 2, 2006, State of Wisconsin Groundwater Advisory Committee
- August 22, 2007, Intergovernmental Informational Meeting on Groundwater Modeling and Watershed Planning in Southern Waukesha and Northeastern Walworth Counties
- January 23, 2008, Wisconsin Town’s Association Waukesha County Unit
- October 27, 2008, Waukesha County Cooperation Council
- January 12-14, 2009, Milwaukee County Public Informational Meetings
- January 20, 2009, Waukesha County Public Informational Meeting
- March 7, 2009, Water-Wise 2009
Draft Regional Water Supply Plan Chapters
The following links provide direct access to all of the material prepared for inclusion in the forthcoming SEWRPC Planning Report No. 52, A Regional Water Supply Plan for Southeastern Wisconsin, to be published upon completion of the study.