NEWS
Legislators look to join water protection pact
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by Kevin Bargnes
Thursday, February 7, 2008
In hopes of keeping Wisconsin’s fresh water from being sent
out of the region, a bill in support of the Great Lakes Compact will be
introduced in the state Senate early next week.
The Great Lakes Compact was the result of five years of
deliberations among the eight Great Lakes states and the Canadian provinces of
Ontario and Quebec. It was signed in December 2005. Minnesota and Illinois have
already passed similar bills, but Wisconsin’s Legislature is the only Great
Lakes state that has yet to introduce a version.
Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, said with the country’s southeast
and southwest scrambling for a water supply, Wisconsin must act now to “prevent
Congress from passing legislation that may take our water.”
“Population trends are moving congressional power to the
southeast and southwest, away from the Midwest and Northeast,” Jauch said.
“Selfish geographical interest will have greater power over responsible
behavior. So we have to take these actions now to protect ourselves as a
region.”
Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, who has put pressure on the Legislature
to move the bill along, said, “If you remove water from [the Great Lakes], only
1 percent of that water is renewed annually.”
“So it is essential for us to understand the great
responsibility we have,” Lawton added.
Jauch said he believes the bill, which he co-authored, is
vital in order to sustain Wisconsin’s growing economy and tourism industry.
“We have an utmost responsibility to manage and protect our
water because it is such a vital part of our economy and our way of life,”
Jauch said.
The Great Lakes provide the region with $55 billion in
tourism revenue and generate 11,000 jobs in Wisconsin alone, according to
Lawton.
The possibility of moving Great Lakes water across the
country was also brought up by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson during his presidential
campaign, Lawton said.
“He was campaigning in the Western states, and he talked
about the need to get access to Great Lakes water for the drought-ridden
Western states,” Lawton said. “The water is like gold, we have to realize that
it is attracting a lot of attention, but it is not a renewable resource.”
Jauch said the compact is being widely viewed as a
bipartisan issue.
“Water doesn’t belong to a Democrat or a Republican,” Jauch
said. “It is a very precious resource that sustains our lives.”
Vice Chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee Jim
Ott, R-Mequon, said while he supports the Great Lakes Compact, he believes it
needs some tweaking. Certain provisions in the original compact would keep
inland cities in Wisconsin from getting their fresh water from Lake Michigan.
“The overall purpose is to divert water to far away states,
not Waukesha or Berlin,” Ott said. “But it looks like we could make some
changes, and we wouldn’t have to go back to the governors.”
According to Jauch, Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, plans on
scheduling a committee hearing on the bill next week.
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