There is nothing really special or unique about this Journal editorial... just that it's yet another example of how some people want large federal bureaucracies to solve even the most mundane local problems:

Thanks to the good work of several people - but perhaps especially Sen. Herb Kohl and Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner - Waukesha has received more federal financial help to deal with its radium problem. The $750,000 will be used to develop shallow municipal wells to provide water free of radium to blend with water from the deep aquifer from which the city draws its water now.
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It's doubtful that a diversion would fly over the objections of several key Great Lakes states officials, who currently have veto power over such requests. Just look at the objections Michigan raised to a recent diversion request - in which the water would be returned to the lake - made by New Berlin.

So it's probably better to look for cheaper, more practical and more environmentally sound solutions on Waukesha's side of the divide, as the city is doing, such as conservation programs, the blending option and other deep aquifers. And getting more federal help seeking such solutions should be on the agenda of every member of the state's delegation in Washington.

Why should people in Montana have to spend a dime of money to take care of Waukesha's radium problem?  Hell... why should people in Milwaukee have to pay for it?  Why can't the people of Waukesha pay for Waukesha's radium problem?  I honestly don't get this kind of thinking at all.  Let the people who live there and drink the water spend the money.  If that makes Waukesha a more expensive place to live... well... then that's the cost of living there.