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.

Sterling Spring Water Company

A few years ago I was at an estate sale where there were many fondleable, weird items from the middle part of the last century. One thing that caught my attention was an old bottle labeled

"Bottled at the Source

1053 N. 115th Street Wauwatosa

Sterling Spring Water Company"

I had never heard of this, and wrote the label information in my notebook (what the hell am I going to do with an old bottle, cool as it may be? I have enough crap [although, if anyone is sufficiently intrigued, this site has one for sale for $10. As of this writing, it's item #S-417]). Do any of you have any further information on it?

The company does not seem to still be in existence, but here is a map of that address.

There is at least one spring still in use in Milwaukee, the Bay View Iron Well, which I used to drink from copiously. It always seemed ancient and pure and mysterious, even though everyone knows about it. If anyone knows about this Sterling Spring Water Company, though, please post a comment about it.

Here is a photo of that area now, where 115th street crosses over Underwood Creek, courtesy of Google Street View. It is interesting to note that the watershed divides just west of there, at approximately 124th street. Is there still a spring there? Is it safe to drink from?

Underwood Creek

One thing I have pointed out more than once is that the Estabrook Dam impoundment does not alter any watershed, in the sense that the water from this part of the Milwaukee River basin gets to exactly where it is supposed to go- Lake Michigan. It's detained for awhile, but I'm late for just about everything too, so I'm not really in a position to judge here.
On the other hand (according to this March 22, 2009 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article), being considered at this very moment is a project to divert Lake Michigan water into a neighboring watershed (Waukesha), using it for swimming pools, lawn-watering, and golf courses (as well as household and business use), and then "pouring all the city's treated wastewater into a small stream in Wauwatosa." Underwood Creek, already prone to flooding, which leads into the Menomonee River, also prone to flooding, would bear the burden of handling Waukesha's used and treated water. (Picture is from an online MMSD brochure- section of Menomonee River in Hart Park, which flooded heavily in the late 90's.)
I found these statements from Biebel, the SEWRPC engineer,particularly interesting- "If the discharge is 10 million gallons a day, that is not a significant flow. That would add just a few inches in depth and not much in velocity." He then went on to explain- the article quoted him indirectly here- "Waukesha could avoid adding to extreme flows in the creek during heavy rain storms, and filling the basin more quickly than planned, by shutting off the discharge. The city could pour its treated wastewater into the Fox River at those times."

"Though the Fox River is outside the Great Lakes basin, Waukesha likely could discharge to it several days a year without violating the requirement for returning as much water to Lake Michigan as it withdraws, Biebel said". The discharge pipe would most likely be located just north of Bluemound Road, by 124th street, just inside the Great Lakes Basin again. Have I mentioned that the project is likely to cost $60-70 million? Does that put the dam repair money into perspective?


A project like this requires the consent of each of the eight Great Lakes states. This is a regional issue.