An American city is defending its plan to draw water from the Great Lakes, saying Canadian and U.S. mayors trying to block the move should be ignored.
The Wisconsin city of Waukesha argues a decision last year that gave it permission to pipe water from Lake Michigan was error-free, protects the environment and does not need to be revisited in any way.
The city asked to take water from the Great Lakes because its own aquifer is running low and the water is contaminated with high levels of naturally occurring cancer-causing radium.
In June, the eight states adjoining the Great Lakes that had final say on the matter, after input from Ontario and Quebec, gave Waukesha's plan the green light.
That made the city the first exception to an agreement banning diversions of water away from the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin.
But in August, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, which represents more than 100 local governments on both sides of the border, challenged that decision, saying it set a dangerous precedent.
Waukesha is now pushing back saying the council's decision ensures protection of the Great Lakes and the environment as a whole.
