From: Derek Scheer [mailto:dscheer@cleanwisconsin.org]
Sent:
Monday, August 09, 2004 3:29 PM
Also see the Official DNR Release on Comment sessions set for Great Lakes water use proposals
Dear all,
The Council of Great Lakes Governors (CGLG) released the
Great Lakes Water Management Initiative. It includes an initial summary of the
positive and negative points of the Initiative. The Initiative Documents are
available at www.speakongreatlakes.org and http://www.cleanwisconsin.org/campaigns/greatLakes.html.
See
the op-ed, "
For a more direct summary, the Initiative:
Positive: provides a legally binding environmentally protective water management standard with good public participation and enforcement provisions. Negative: does not define the conservation or improvement standards sufficiently, has a ten year implementation period and basically exempts Agriculture
There are two types of meetings associated with the Initiative, E-NGO informational meetings and DNR Official Hearings:
Informational Meetings (host)
Official Hearings
This is a historic agreement in the making but it will need the environmental communities help if it is going to become law. I am hoping that everyone will come out to the hearings and submit written comments. I will try to have sample comments on our website ASAP. Written comments are due October 17.
Derek Scheer
Water Policy Director
Clean Wisconsin
(Formerly Wisconsin's Environmental
Decade)
122 State Street, Suite 200
Madison, WI 53703-2500
Phone: 608.251.7020 FAX: 608.251.1655
www.cleanwisconsin.org
The
The next 90 days offer
Wisconsinites an opportunity to express these values and comment on the federal
and regional policy work being done in the
These documents are the
first step in drafting laws that will affect how your
The other document is a
compact (called the Great Lakes Basin Water Resources Compact) to enhance joint
decision making about the use of
On the plus side, the
compact between the eight Great Lakes states:
• For the first time provides environmental standards for judging new water
withdrawal proposals
• Protects all the waters of the Great Lakes basin, including streams and
groundwater
• If approved by Congress as well as the states, would be legally binding on
the states
• Requires most water withdrawals to be registered, and many to be permitted to
help build a better understanding of how the region is using it waters.
• Provides good avenues for public participation in permitting decisions
• Provides good means for enforcing the provisions of the compact.
On the minus side, the
compact needs:
• Better defined conservation measures
• A shorter phase-in period of the new rules; the proposed 10 years is to long
• Water withdrawal standards that don’t exempt the largest users, like agriculture
• Provide a mechanism to better evaluate the “cumulative” impacts on local
river and groundwater levels, recognizing that the environmental damage is
greatest at the local level.
Now is the time to take
action and help protect your
Water Policy Director,