Regional Water Supply Plan

About the Study

SEWRPC has prepared and adopted a regional water supply system plan which 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, which is documented in SEWRPC Planning Report No. 52, A Regional Water Supply Plan for Southeastern Wisconsin, Volume One, Chapters 1-12, and Volume Two, Appendices, includes 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 new institutional structures found necessary to carry out the plan recommendations.

The regional water supply plan has 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 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) completed that analytical activity in 2010. The EJTF considered and accepted the findings of the CED.

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 were provided to the Advisory Committee for their consideration and were addressed in the plan report as appropriate. 

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.

• • Record of Public Comments, A Regional Water Supply Plan for Southeastern Wisconsin
  • Summary Brochure December 2008
  • Folleto Sumario Diciembre 2008 (en español)
  • Newsletter 4, January 2011
  • Newsletter 3, December 2008
  • Newsletter 2, December 2007
  • Newsletter 1, January 2006

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.

• May 24, 2011
  • Regional Water Supply Planning in Southeastern Wisconsin - Presentation to the Waukesha County Board of Supervisors
• March 7, 2009, Water-Wise 2009
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Water Supply Planning Program Update – Focus on Alternative and Preliminary Recommended Plan
• January 20, 2009, Waukesha County Public Informational Meeting
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Water Supply Planning Program Update – Focus on Alternative and Preliminary Recommended Plans
• January 12-14, 2009, Milwaukee County Public Informational Meetings
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Water Supply Planning Program Update – Focus on Alternative and Preliminary Recommended Plans
• October 27, 2008, Waukesha County Cooperation Council
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Water Supply Planning Program Update – Alternative and Initially Recommended Plans: Waukesha County Focus
• January 23, 2008, Wisconsin Town’s Association Waukesha County Unit
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Water Supply Planning Program— Background, Findings to Date, and Next Steps – Focus on Waukesha County
• August 22, 2007, Intergovernmental Informational Meeting on Groundwater Modeling and Watershed Planning in Southern Waukesha and Northeastern Walworth Counties
  • Intergovernmental Informational Meeting on Groundwater Modeling and Watershed Planning in Southern Waukesha and Northeastern Walworth Counties
  • Troy Bedrock Valley Aquifer Model
  • Hydrostratigraphy and Groundwater Flow Model: Troy Valley Glacial Aquifer, Southern Waukesha Co., WI
  • Mukwonago River Watershed Protection Planning Program
• February 2, 2006, State of Wisconsin Groundwater Advisory Committee
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Water Supply Planning Program Overview and Challenges
• September 19, 2005, 2005 WCA Annual Conference
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Aquifer Modeling and Water Supply Planning Program: An Intergovernmental – Interagency Cooperative Effort
• February 22, 2005, Public Policy Forum
  • Southeastern Wisconsin Water Supply Issues And Regional Water Supply Planning Program Overview
• February 15-16, 2005, Straddling the Divide – Water Supply Planning In The Lake Michigan Region
  • Water Supply Issues In Southeastern Wisconsin: Technical And Policy Needs And Challenges