Capital Conference

Session Resources

Evaluation

2008 Capital Conference Session Summary

Go Green, Go Blue:  Exploring the Great Lakes Compact/Water Assessment Tool

When you look at a map of the Great Lakes with the eight states surrounding the lakes outlined, here is what you notice—a little bit of Illinois touches Lake Michigan, a small portion of Wisconsin also touches it, and that New York and Pennsylvania, for instance, have their fair share of Great Lakes shoreline.  It jumps out at you that Michigan is not just touching, but SURROUNDED BY water.  What isn’t clear is why we have not passed the Great Lakes Water Compact.  Other states, with less at stake, have.  We are far, far behind on protecting our waters.  In 2007, Arizona voiced an interest in Wisconsin’s water.  Without a protective compact signed by the eight states surrounding the Great Lakes, what’s to stop Arizona from siphoning off our water?  The scary thing is that our area is losing representatives at the federal level, and the south and west portions of the US are gaining representatives.  We need to pass protective measures now so that a treaty can go to Congress to be ratified.  Michigan’s current level of protection only guards against so much withdrawal of water as to be a detriment to fish habitats.  Coalitions and groups interested in protecting our waters don’t think this goes far enough.  They want other things such as drinking water and recreational interests to be considered.  They want a permit to be required for large water withdrawal and a process whereby the public trust is considered.  Michigan has declared our waters to be a public trust, but has not enacted any regulations and enforcement measures to ensure that it is.