A Wisconsin town's plan to divert Great Lakes water has got the attention of lawmakers on the other side of Lake Michigan. Within the last month, four different resolutions have been introduced in Michigan urging the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Council "to scrutinize carefully the proposed diversion at Waukesha."

Those resolutions can be accessed via our state legislative tracker. Waukesha is hoping to become the first community to win regional approval of a diversion plan under the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, which became law in 2008.

The interstate compact bans diversions, but carves out some exceptions - one of which is for a "community within a straddling county" of the Great Lakes basin. Waukesha meets this description. However, its application for a diversion must meet several criteria and ultimately receive approval from all of the Great Lakes states (via the Water Resources Council created by the compact). In early April, the city submitted a draft proposal to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a panel of the Milwaukee County Board has voiced its displeasure with how Waukesha plans to return the Lake Michigan water that it uses.