New diversion rules soon to test the water

Water diversion from the Great Lakes is an issue I first reported on back on May 17, 2004. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinal (registration required) is reporting on a draft of new rules governing water diversion in an article entitled: New diversion rules soon to test the water.

Under the present law, any proposal to pipe Great Lakes water outside the basin requires approval from all eight Great Lakes governors, and they have a history of saying no. That law does a good job of holding the water in the lakes. But most of those involved in the issue agree that leaving Great Lakes diversion decisions to gubernatorial whim probably wouldn't hold water in court, and that it is only a matter of time until a thirsty city outside the basin sues.

The governors committed to reworking the law governing diversion so it would hold up in court and also make it difficult for distant places such as Asia or even the American West to drain water from the Great Lakes Basin.

Standing at Niagara Falls in June 2001, all eight governors committed to reworking the law in a process dubbed Annex 2001. Three years later, details of the closely guarded Annex drafted by representatives of the Great Lakes governors and two Canadian premiers remain murky, but the guiding tenet is that water taken out of the basin would have to be treated and returned so there is no net loss to the lakes. Communities that could not return the water would have to pay for projects, such as wetlands restoration, that would benefit the lakes.

"The states are only going to be able to say 'This is our domain' if they step up and do the right thing and the process succeeds," said the National Wildlife Federation's Noah Hall. "Ultimately, the regulation and protection of an interstate body of water like the Great Lakes is a federal jurisdiction. We've been given a long leash to manage this resource, but if we stretch it too far, they might pull it back."

A draft of Annex 2001 should be released for a 90-day public comment period in mid-July.