VILLAGE OF SOMERS WATER DIVERSION APPLICATION

Overview

Overview

• The DNR approved the Village of Somers’s diversion application to divert up to 1.2 million gallons of water per day from Lake Michigan.
• The Village will divert water purchased from the City of Kenosha Water Utility and return treated water to Lake Michigan via the Kenosha Wastewater Treatment Plant.
• The approval was granted under the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact (Compact).
• The Compact banned diversions of Great Lakes water with a few exceptions.
  • One exception to the Compact’s ban on diversions allows a “straddling community [exit DNR],” such as New Berlin, to apply for a diversion of Great Lakes water.
  • Diversions allowed under this exception must be used solely for public water supply [exit DNR] purposes in the community.