35 Million Gallons to Fill, 18 Million a Year to Maintain: Cedarburg Residents Oppose Private Ski Lake

CEDARBURG, WI, UNITED STATES, December 16, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Thirty-five million gallons of water to fill it. Another eighteen million gallons every year to keep it full.

That is the scale of water withdrawal proposed for a 13-acre private ski lake in the Town of Cedarburg, according to engineering plans submitted by Mike and Stacy Gauthier, owners of Gauthier BioMedical. All of that water would come from Cedar Creek and the community’s shared aquifer.

Those figures appear in the November 5th, 2025 Town of Cedarburg Town Board meeting agenda packet, where revised engineering materials for the project begin on page 34, making the volumes part of the official public record:

Reference:
https://www.townofcedarburgwi.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/11-5-2025-TB-Meeting-Packet-Reduced.pdf

More than 3,000 residents and supporters, including over 1,266 Town residents, are now urging local officials to deny approval of the project.

The number of Town residents who have signed the petition opposing the project now exceeds the total voter participation in the most recent Spring Town election, a level of engagement that organizers say reflects extraordinary concern over the project’s environmental, hydrological, and community impacts.

Community members are calling for the project to be stopped at two upcoming decision points: the December 17th Town of Cedarburg Plan Commission meeting and the January 7th, 2026 Town Board meeting.

The Save Cedar Creek team, consisting of several Town of Cedarburg Residents have also submitted a new ordinance to the Town Board, to ensure projects like the Gauthier Ski Lake project are never built in the town. Submission of new town ordinances by residents is a practice that has been used since the founding of the Town of Cedarburg in approximately 1853.

A Community Scrambling to Catch Up

Many Town residents say they first became fully aware of the scope and implications of the project at the November 5, 2025 Town Board meeting, when a substantially revised plan for a private water ski lake was presented. Since then, residents have been working around the clock to review technical documents, consult scientists and conservation organizations, and understand a proposal that had been under development for years with limited public awareness.

“This isn’t opposition that’s been slowly building over time,” said Kevin Cahill of Save Cedar Creek. “This is a community scrambling to catch up to a plan that most residents didn’t fully understand until November 5. We are doing in weeks what the applicant and their attorneys and consultants spent 4.5 years planning.”

Cahill added that the compressed timeline raises serious concerns about whether the Town can reasonably evaluate long-term risks before key votes are taken.

“If this project is not stopped at the December 17th Plan Commission meeting and the January 7th, 2026 Town Board meeting, the Town risks approving something with permanent consequences before critical questions are answered,” Cahill said.

Documented Environmental and Water Risks

Independent experts and conservation organizations have submitted written warnings identifying unresolved risks tied to the proposal.

Milwaukee Riverkeeper, a science-based nonprofit dedicated to protecting water quality and wildlife habitat in the Milwaukee River Basin, has urged the Town to deny the project. In a detailed memorandum, Riverkeeper warns that diverting water from Cedar Creek—particularly during low-flow summer months—could harm aquatic life, strand organisms, degrade water quality, and reduce public recreational use of the creek.

Riverkeeper’s analysis relies in part on long-term USGS flow data showing Cedar Creek already experiences critically low seasonal flows, making additional withdrawals especially risky. Riverkeeper further warns that the project would shift environmental and long-term risk onto the Town while delivering the primary benefit to a single private property owner, raising serious concerns under Wisconsin’s public trust doctrine and the Town’s obligation to protect navigable waters.

Reference:
https://savecedarcreek.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/MKE+River+Keepers+Memo+to+Town+Board+Dec+2025+Final.pdf

Groundwater and Well Impacts

Groundwater and well impacts have also been raised by hydrogeology experts. Emeritus Professor Mary Pikul Anderson of UW–Madison cautions that constructing a lake that intersects the water table will alter groundwater gradients and may divert groundwater away from nearby streams and wetlands. She notes that a thorough assessment of how groundwater would flow into and out of the lake—and what that diversion would mean for surrounding resources—is essential before approval.

Threats to Endangered Species and Sensitive Habitats

Scientists from the Dragonfly Society of the Americas warn that the project threatens rare groundwater-fed wetlands required by the federally endangered Hine’s Emerald dragonfly, one of North America’s rarest insects. According to their analysis, the species depends on cool, calcium-rich seepage systems with stable hydrology, and even small alterations to groundwater flow or wetland structure can have irreversible consequences.

“These natural systems cannot simply be recreated once they are lost,” the Society’s letter states, emphasizing that protecting these wetlands safeguards not only a single species but the integrity of an entire ecosystem.

Reference:
https://savecedarcreek.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/Dragonfly+Society+of+the+Americas+Hine's+Emerald.pdf

Additional ecological concerns were raised by Dr. Michael Schrimpf, a biologist with more than 20 years of research experience. Schrimpf warns that a large artificial pond designed for high-speed watercraft could disrupt wildlife behavior, increase the risk of invasive species, and function as a “sink habitat” that attracts birds and other animals only to reduce their breeding success due to noise, disturbance, and habitat degradation.

Reference:
https://savecedarcreek.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/Michael+Schrimpf+PhD+Biology.pdf

Fuel, Chemical, and Water Quality Concerns

Community members have submitted letters documenting concerns about fuel and chemical contamination associated with motorized watercraft. These letters note that gasoline, oil, heavy metals, and unburned fuel can enter water bodies through routine boat operation, bilge discharge, and maintenance activities. Critics say the project materials do not adequately address how such contamination would be monitored, mitigated, or prevented from affecting groundwater and downstream waters.

Reference:
https://savecedarcreek.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/Jon+and+Joyce+Bielefeld+Letter+to+Town.pdf

Zoning, Precedent, and Public Trust

Milwaukee Riverkeeper and independent reviewers also raise concerns about rezoning and parcel consolidation required for the project. While a private pond is permissible under existing agricultural zoning, the project seeks estate residential zoning, which experts warn could enable future residential subdivision around the lake while limiting the Town’s future regulatory authority.

Reference:
https://savecedarcreek.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/MKE+River+Keepers+Memo+to+Town+Board+Dec+2025+Final.pdf

Federal Review Questions Remain

Federal correspondence confirms that an Army Corps of Engineers review conducted in 2021 was based on an earlier version of the project and different wetland conditions. Since then, the size, design, and wetland delineations associated with the proposal have changed. Residents and experts argue that relying on the 2021 determination allows the project to proceed using outdated data that no longer reflects on-the-ground conditions.

Local Impacts Already Documented

Adjacent landowners have submitted photographic and written evidence showing that earlier grading on the property altered drainage patterns and redirected water onto neighboring historic properties. These impacts raise concerns about erosion control, stormwater management, and downstream flooding risks if a much larger excavation proceeds.

A Narrow Window for Action

Residents and experts are urging the Town of Cedarburg Plan Commission and Town Board to deny the project at the December 17th and January 7th meetings unless comprehensive, independent hydrological, ecological, and engineering reviews are completed.

“Cedar Creek is a shared public resource,” Cahill said. “Once it’s altered, there is no undo button. The decisions made in the next few weeks will define Cedarburg for generations.”

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an article on this story this morning. There are many new studies and facts emerging daily that Save Cedar Creek is eager to share via future press releases or partnering with the media.

Reference:
https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/north/2025/12/16/cedarburg-residents-push-back-against-proposed-plan-for-private-pond/87465937007/?tbref=hp

For more information and petition details, visit Save Cedar Creek at
https://www.savecedarcreekwi.com/ or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/savecedarcreek53012

Citizens of Cedarburg
Save Cedar Creek LLC
cedarcreeksave@gmail.com
Visit us on social media:
Instagram
Facebook

Save Cedar Creek | Stop the Gauthier Ski Lake Project

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.