Water Diversion from the Great Lakes
by Bob Russell
The issue of diverting more water from the Great Lakes basin is not new. In the mid-1980s the threat of water diversion to the water hungry agricultural western area of the Midwest was a hot political battle. In response, politicians, citizens and policy analysts in the Great Lakes states and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec resolved not to let water be drained from "our" Great Lakes. This effort resulted in the Great Lakes Charter. The Charter states that "[it] is the intent of the signatory states and provinces that diversions of Basin water resources will not be allowed if individually or cumulatively they would have any significant adverse impacts on lake levels, in-basin uses and the Great Lakes Ecosystem."
Now we are in the 00s' with the Great Lakes at one of the lowest levels in the last hundred years, just short of the record low of the 1964. Once again the threat of water diversion is a hot political issue.
This time the threat of diversion is different. It's not just water hungry areas in the US wanting the precious water from the Great Lakes, it is a water hungry planet. Globalization has opened up the waters of the Great Lakes to any nation that is member of the WTO (World Trade Organization) or NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), or corporations from member nations. (NAFTA is being expanded to the whole hemisphere as the FTAA -- see article). Under the rules and regulations of the these trade treaties, water in the Great Lakes may be considered a commodity. When water is considered a commodity no unfair restraint of trade is allowed.
There is a simple way to look at the restraint of trade related to water in the Great lakes. How we use the waters of the Great Lakes is the standard that will apply to entities outside the basin who want access to the water. The others can be states within the US who can use the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution to gain access to the waters of the Great lakes. Additionally, WTO or NAFTA member nations and the corporations within those member nations can use the rules and regulations of those trade agreements to access the waters of the Great Lakes.
The best strategy for protecting the Great Lakes from further water diversion is for the inhabitants of the Great Lakes basin to adopt a set of conservation guidelines that protect the water resources from harm. We would agree to conserve and protect the Great Lakes with a set of standards that minimized the use of water through conservation standards within the basin&emdash;standards that would be difficult for anyone outside the basin to meet. One key aspect of these conservation standards could be that water would need to be returned back to the basin after use, which would be difficult for some entity to do that is on the other side of the planet.
If you want to get involved, there are many organization that are working on water diversion from the Great Lakes basin. Two NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that have this as a major focus are Great Lakes United and The Lake Michigan Federation (contact information listed below). For people living in the Traverse City area, NMEAC (Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council) is hosting Representative Bart Stupak who will be speaking on the issue of water diversion from the Great Lakes at their annual meeting Wednesday, April 18, 6:00PM at the Traverse City Opera House.
The International Joint Commission, established by the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty between the united States and Canada, has produced a report, Protection of the Waters of the Great Lakes&emdash;Final Report to the Governments of Canada and the United States, which is an excellent document to help understand the complexities of water diversion.
The only way to protect the waters of the Great Lakes is for citizens to get involved in the promotion of water conservation standards applied to the entire basin--standards that business, governments and citizens must abide by under law.
The people of the basin don't have to wait for these standards to be set, we can all start treating water as a resource that needs to be protected for all life in the Great Lakes watershed.
Great Lakes United <http://www.glu.org/>
Buffalo State College, Cassety Hall
1300 Elmwood Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14222
(716) 886-0142
glu@glu.orgLake Michigan Federation <http://www.lakemichigan.org>
161 Muskegon Mall - Suite 600
Muskegon MI 49440
Phone: 231-722-5116
Fax: 231-722-4918International Joint Commission <http://www.ijc.org>
Great Lakes Regional Office
PO Box 32869
Detroit, MI 48232
Director Thomas P. Behlen
Phone: 519 257-6715
Email: behlent@windsor.ijc.orgProtection of the Waters of the Great Lakes
http://www.ijc.org/boards/cde/finalreport/finalreport.html