LANSING, MI (AP)-- More than two dozen Michigan environmental groups are asking Governor Rick Snyder to reject a Wisconsin city's request to tap Lake Michigan for drinking water.
The organizations say Waukesha's proposal doesn't meet standards under a regional compact that bans most diversions of Great Lakes water outside its natural boundary.
Waukesha lies just west of the watershed but can apply to draw from Lake Michigan because it's in a county that straddles the line. But the city must get permission from all eight states in the region.
The groundwater that now supplies Waukesha is contaminated with radium. City officials say they need a new source and have no better alternative than the lake.
The environmental groups disagree. They also say the city is asking for more water than it needs.
