Letter to the Editor: Protecting the Great Lakes

Letter to the Editor: Protecting the Great Lakes, The New York Times, August 26, 2015
Author: Elizabeth Lentini

To the Editor:

Re “Protection of Great Lakes May Cost a Wisconsin City” (news article, Aug. 26):

As a child of the parched high plains of southeastern Colorado who now lives just steps away from the shores of the extraordinary Lake Michigan, I am thrilled that the Great Lakes are being protected through a 2008 compact that restricts the pumping of lake waters beyond their natural basin.

But there are some collateral issues that go hand in hand with water use. Waukesha’s sprawling growth has taken people and jobs away from its less prosperous neighbor Milwaukee and has contributed to transportation and traffic issues.

Midwesterners are finally learning what those of us from the West have long known: Growth requires water, and water cannot be taken for granted.

ELIZABETH J. LENTINI

Whitefish Bay, Wis.