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Water Wars

Peter Annin, former Newsweek correspondent and author of The Great Lakes Water Wars, warns us that Lake Michigan might look less like sea and more like desert someday if we do not protect it. He compares the Great Lakes to the Aral Sea, once the fourth largest lake in the world. In the past 60 years it has lost 75 percent of its surface area and 90 percent of its volume because of massive water diversions.

Fears are growing that Lake Michigan might look like the Aral Sea some day if a firm regional water management system is not adopted. This could mean a lot of changes for Door County, a region where the quality of life and economy are closely linked to the presence of the lake. “Back off suckers! Water diversion, the last straw.” – Michigan Billboard Water has become one of the world’s most valuable resources. According to a congressional report, 36 U.S. states are already expecting to have water shortages in the next 10 years without the possible added impact of drought or climate change. The Great Lakes region is the world’s most abundant freshwater reservoir. It also provides drinking water for 25 million people and holds 95 percent of the freshwater in North America. As water becomes more scarce across the globe, the Great Lakes could be a key resource for dry regions of the world and multi-national companies eager to lay claim to this abundant resource. Concern has recently grown over the possibility that drier and more populated parts of the United States might try to force the Great Lakes region to divert water their way. Since the Great Lakes only renew just a single percent of their water each year, any significant diversion could be disastrous and, according to Frances Canonizado of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, “it could change the face of a place like Door County.” In order to avoid losing control over this valuable resource and the regional culture, economy, and environment with it, local organizations and politicians are encouraging Door County residents to get involved in regional efforts to preserve the water. Wisconsin residents are being urged to support the introduction of a binding water management agreement, The Great Lakes Water Resources Compact, that could protect the lakes from future diversions and excessive pollution. Wisconsin is the only state in the region that has not introduced the compact to legislature yet. “That’s our drinking water, that’s our future.” – Richard Daley, Mayor of Chicago In 1995 the vice president of the World Bank, Ismail Seraggeldin, said, “if the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water.” The United Nations predicts that two thirds of the world’s population will live in water scarce regions by 2025, and many of them in regions previously considered “water rich” like the United States. The recent decision by Sitka, Alaska to sell 25 million gallons of water a day from its Blue Lake can be seen as a defining step in the ascent of water as one of the world’s most valuable commodities. Sitka is selling its water to three water exporters that send water to countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh that are facing severe shortages. With freshwater becoming more and more scarce the Great Lakes have become a potentially valuable resource for multi-national corporations eager to reap benefits from sales of water across the globe. But the potential economic profit that might be gained from selling the water or diverting it would cost the Great Lakes region “a multi-billion dollar regional tourism industry, a $4 billion fishery [and a] $3 billion shipping season,” Annin said. Canonizado said excessive diversions of lake water to feed the needs of ever-expanding cities like Las Vegas, Phoenix, or Houston could also be disastrous for the shorelines of Door County, already morphed by low water levels.

Canonizado, as part of an outreach effort for the Great Lakes Alliance, gave a talk on “Waterwars” for the Door County Environmental Council recently. She said the county was concerned with threats to the Great Lakes such as diversion or pollution. “It’s amazing to see the intimate and close tie that people have with the lake in Door County,” she said. “That’s why they do care about it – because this resource, this body of water they are so intimately tied to is threatened by so many issues.” Cameron Davis, executive director of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, said citizens are falling victim to a familiar trap.

“People see how vast the Great Lakes are and mistake that vastness for invincibility,” he said. Threats to the quality and quantity of water in the Great Lakes basin exist because freshwater is limited and often vulnerable to contamination. Pollution poses a particularly important threat to the health of our lakes and shores. Recently BP’s largest oil refinery in the Midwest obtained a permit to increase the amount of ammonia and suspended solids it dumped into the lake at its Whiting, Indiana plant. According to the Chicago Tribune, “the permit’s limit remains below federal guidelines, [but they’re] allowed to release 54 percent more ammonia than the previous limit.” Although BP’s actions run counter to provisions of the Clean Water Act that prohibit downgrading of water quality, Indiana regulators helped BP around the rule by allowing them to install equipment that dilutes wastewater with clean water 200 feet offshore. These first-ever “mixing zones” have been criticized by state regulators because they present “a threat to human health, fish and wildlife.” The Great Lakes are also threatened because of the increased scarcity of water.

“We’re entering an era of increasing water insecurity and this is the Saudi-Arabia of water,” Annin says. Pressure to divert water from the Great Lakes is growing and fears about the possibility of giant pipelines or waterways carrying the “blue gold” elsewhere have been expressed by several Wisconsin representatives. The Nestle Corporation, the world’s number one producer of bottled water, is already allowed to withdraw up to 250,000 gallons of Great Lakes water per day and sell it to consumers as “spring” water at an enormous profit. Fears are reinforced by the fact that there is no clear legislation protecting the Great Lakes from excessive use, pollution or diversion at this time. The current law is simply a 2005 “gentlemen’s agreement,” according to Canonizado. “It’s a non-binding agreement by which all Great Lakes governors would have to approve any potential diversion,” she said. “But this agreement could easily be overridden in a court battle by an international trade agreement or a U.S. interstate commerce clause.”

The lack of an agreement puts the Great Lakes at risk for water diversion and overuse by private companies. “This is why it’s important for a binding agreement to be put in place to protect the Great Lakes water, ” says Canonizado.

Andy Buchsbaum, head of the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Office, fears that without the compact in place, “the U.S. federal government will exert itself over Great Lakes water-management policy like never before.” The compact must pass in all Great Lakes states and be ratified by congress in order to become effective. Canonizado said he hopes to see legislation introduced to ratify the compact in Madison this fall.

“The threat is if states don’t pass the compact and agree to managing the great lakes together, that decision will be taken from them and the outcomes might be uncontrollable for places like Door County, ” Canonizado warned.