Commentary
Waukesha: Approve, declare victory and move on
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Facts, the law and logic support a yes vote by the Great Lakes governors.
Great Lakes Echo (http://greatlakesecho.org/tag/great-lakes-compact/)
Facts, the law and logic support a yes vote by the Great Lakes governors.
Current State’s Great Lakes Month in Review for June looks at reducing phosphorous runoff into Lake Erie and a Wisconsin town that wants to draw its drinking water from Lake Michigan.
A Supreme Court decision involving a Texas/Oklahoma water conflict could affect the Great Lakes.
While playing small ball is necessary, we should reach higher. If the Great Lakes region was a country, it would have the fourth largest economy in the world.
It deserves world-class solutions to its problems.
Detroit and Milwaukee are luring businesses with water. Could it boost economies?
Can discounted water rates and investment in water technologies transform the region?
“A river is like a urinary tract.” And so begins my favorite paragraph in Alex Prud’homme’s new book, The Ripple Effect. The New York native tackles the state of freshwater, how it got here and where it’s headed.
Two and half years after Great Lakes states agreed to cut down on water diversion and excessive withdrawals from the lakes, the National Wildlife Foundation has reported on how they’re doing. The highlights:
Michigan and Wisconsin have the most notable success, passing legislation to cover all aspects of the compact and administering the program. New York and Ohio only recently enacted legislation to comply with the requirements of the Great Lakes Compact. They deferred to advisory boards for their recommendations. Illinois and Minnesota contend that their statutes and programs are sufficient to control water diversion and withdrawal. They adopted the compact without creating further requirements. Indiana and Pennsylvania created skeletal programs and allowed environmental agencies to fill in the flesh. They have no detailed programs or rules.
In 1813 young naval commander Oliver Hazard Perry led the warship Niagara to victory over the British in the Battle of Lake Erie. Today Lake Erie is a battleground for a different water conflict.
Some business groups have taken a disingenuous path on the Great Lakes environment.
But we need honest participation from these key stakeholders who otherwise put their credibility at risk.
Great Lakes states have blown deadlines two and a half years after negotiating an historic water protection agreement, according to a Natural Resources Defense Council report.