Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News
The Newsletter of the Great Lakes
Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund
The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News is the newsletter of the Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund, published five times per year. The News is intended to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas among citizens and organizations working to protect aquatic habitats in the Great Lakes Basin.
Volume 14, Number 5 • Winter 2006
Lake Michigan
Basin Update
Diversion Proposal Threatens
Carefully Negotiated Great Lakes Protections
By Cheryl Mendoza, Manger of Water Conservation Programs, Alliance for the Great Lakes
We probably all agree, besides acting as
home for fish and wildlife, the Great Lakes
provide drinking water and immeasurable
quality of life for 40 million people
throughout the region. Despite this, the
Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources is considering a proposal to
divert Lake Michigan water outside the
Great Lakes Basin in New Berlin,Wisconsin.
New Berlin faces a federal deadline to stop
pumping radium-laced water from its wells on the western side of
the city.
While this may be the easiest option for New Berlin, it is certainly not
the only option. New Berlin’s proximity to Lake Michigan does not
excuse its responsibility to use water resources wisely and efficiently.
New Berlin’s current water conservation measures are glaringly
weak, comprised of a sprinkling restriction limited to even or odd
days, an optional leak detection test offered to customers who
request them, and a leaflet offering conservation tips apparently
available on the City’s website, though we could not find it there.
Aggressive conservation programs have helped countless communities
around the United States meet their water supply needs. There
are seemingly endless examples of such programs in existence that
New Berlin could adapt.
Aside from New Berlin lacking a responsible water conservation
program, the WDNR is ignoring their obligation to a federal law
called the Water Resources Development Act. The language in the
law is clear: “No water shall be diverted or exported from any portion
of the Great Lakes within the United States, from any tributary within
the United States of any of the Great Lakes, for use (emphasis
added) outside the Great Lakes basin unless such diversion or export
is approved by the Governor of each of the Great Lakes States.”
Finally, moving forward with this proposal could also hinder,
possibly indefinitely, first of its kind, legally binding protections for
the Great Lakes – called the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin
Water Resources Compact - ensuring a healthy economy and ecology
for today’s and future generations. The Compact and the related
Agreement with two Canadian provinces are the result of six years of
difficult negotiations between 10 jurisdictions and numerous stakeholders.
Approving diversion proposals without this legally binding
system in place would result in a loss of interest from state legislatures
and Congress to approve a final, binding Compact. This gives
regional stakeholders no legal recourse for bad diversion decisions.
Each day we wait to build stronger protections for the 20% of the
world’s fresh surface water in our backyard, the risk of losing our
lakes forever grows.
Each day we wait to build stronger protections for the
20% of the world’s fresh surface water in our backyard,
the risk of losing our lakes forever grows.
To learn more contact Cheryl Mendoza at 616-850-0745 ext. 13
or cmendoza@greatlakes.org.
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