More communities urged to join talks over water: Catalyst is Waukesha's push to get resource from Lake Michigan.

Byline: Darryl Enriquez

Jan. 22--It's time for Waukesha County communities with water problems to begin talks with the City of Waukesha about its plans to import Lake Michigan water or dig new wells in western Waukesha County, officials said Friday.

Discussions about creating a consortium of water-needy area communities has seldom gone beyond seminars on resolving water problems in southeastern Wisconsin.

Yet a community consortium could share costs and regulatory responsibilities over shared water and resolve local disputes over the resource.

A Town of Brookfield meeting brought the issue into the political arena last week. During the …