(MI) The Detroit News – A request from Genesee County to tap into Lake Huron for future water needs could provide a litmus test for the Great Lakes Compact and its protections for the region’s greatest natural resource.
Officials with the Genesee County Drain Commission have filed a request for permission to withdraw 85 million gallons of water a day from Lake Huron. Factoring in the amount of water returned to the lake through runoff into local tributaries and via treatment plants, that’s a net withdrawal of roughly 8.5 million gallons each day.
Genesee County purchases its water from the city of Flint and sells that water to other municipalities. Flint gets its supply from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. In recent years, Genesee officials have looked at several options, including weaning themselves of Detroit’s system via a pipeline to the lake. More