Underwood Creek and Waukesha's water plan

I became concerned when I read of the plan to take water from the Great Lakes watershed and pipe it out to Waukesha, returning it to Underwood Creek, just inside the watershed again. I decided to view the area to which the water would be returned, by 124th and Bluemound Road. I don't know what I was expecting; deer frolicking through undisturbed woodlands, I guess. It really looks as below: more like the Lorax was going to pop out of a stump.
Looking north from this point- the direction of the creek's flow in this area- isn't much more attractive. Steep cement banks prohibit access. It might be more difficult to fathom the environmental impacts of such a proposal if the area actually looked like we as a society actually value our water and waterways. It is an invisible commodity.

Here is one last picture, taken looking west on Bluemound Road from about 116th St. You can see the topography of the area- the creek is in the valley below, and the edge of the watershed is approximately 124th street- the ridge visible near the top of the photo, with the winding road curving toward the top left.

I took all these photos on 04/04/09. A study on the environmental impact of the diversion-and-return plan is pending.