Policy

Mayor Katie Rosenberg on removing lead pipes in Wausau

Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg describes how the city is prioritizing resources and implementing its campaign to replace lead service lines connecting water mains to buildings over a five-year period.

By Nathan Denzin | Here & Now

December 20, 2023 • West Central Region

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Mayor Katie Rosenberg:
Yeah, so first of all, if you don't know or you want us to check, you can call us. We have a water department, they'll be happy to send out some folks to see if you have a lead pipe actually. But the other part of this, especially with this program, is that we're targeting specific neighborhoods to work on first. We want to make sure that those communities that were maybe underserved initially, maybe they didn't have the funding, maybe they didn't own their home, maybe there was a language barrier. We wanna make sure we're addressing those issues first. So that's how we're starting. We are starting with our 500 pipes next year, which is a huge increase over what we usually do, between 20 and 40 a year. And we wanna start with those neighborhoods that have just been underrepresented.

Nathan Denzin:
So how long do you think it's gonna take for this program to run its course and replace all your pipes? Is this, you know, are we looking at a few years?

Mayor Katie Rosenberg:
Yeah.

Nathan Denzin:
Are we looking at 10 years?

Mayor Katie Rosenberg:
Yeah.

Nathan Denzin:
15? What's the timeline like?

Mayor Katie Rosenberg:
Yeah, so in January when I went to the White House to talk about this, we had a 15-year program and that was at the same pace we were doing. And that's when Sean from Community Infrastructure Partners reached out and they said, "Hey, you seem like the kind "of person that wants to get this done "a little bit more quickly. "How would you like to get it done in five years?" And, obviously, my answer is, "Yes, what's the but?" And he's like, "Let's talk." So we've been talking since then. And really what it is, is just a massive increase in doing this work. So we gotta hire plumbers, we gotta find people who are willing to do this work. We need outreach in languages that the people speak. So five years, that's what we're looking at.



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