Letter: Water Authority will do 'what needs to be done' News-Chronicle In an open letter to its member communities, the Central Brown County Water Authority said it will do "what needs to be done" to get clean water to its communities, and said no matter what option it takes, water rates will rise in those municipalities. In the letter, authority president Len Teresinski said "it is expensive to obtain another water source for the communities but it must be done because of the water quantity and quality problems that the municipalities now face, which will only get worse unless another water sources is obtained." The letter said the authority still believes the best solution is a mutual solution with the city of Green Bay. The two sides have talked for 2 1/2 years about an agreement to buy Green Bay's water piped from Lake Michigan or share new facilities. It noted Green Bay recently changed its plans to build a new pipeline and returned to an option - additional construction to boost capacity of its present pipe - "that they discarded two years ago." "It has never made any sense to the authority that each party should go its separate way and build separate raw water pipelines," the letter said. It listed the authority's proposals to Green Bay: _ A Modified Contributed Capital option, in which the CBCWA would pay $17.46 million, Green Bay $18.54 million, with the authority paying a sum for "other considerations." Teresinski noted the city would save $11.46 million while the authority would save $10.54 million with the joint larger pipeline. If forced to build its own pipe, the authority would pay $28 million. The authority serves as a middleman, selling the water, whether from Green Bay's pipe or its own, to the communities which then add to the base purchase rate to cover their own costs. Teresinski also defended the decision to drop the use of aquifer storage and recovery as an option, citing few short-term benefits and too many risks with the as-yet unapproved technology. "Green Bay is in position to see if this technology can work with virtually no risks to the city except the actual cost of the pilot test," Teresinski said. "The city, therefore, can afford to wait. The authority has determined that the risks are too great to continue to wait." He said Green Bay has the right to decide its best long-term solution to its problems. FYI: The complete text of the letter is at www.cbcwaterauthority.com/openletter.htm