Great Lakes Article:

House approves Great Lakes compact banning water diversions outside region
The Grand Rapids Press
Ken Kolker
Sept. 23, 2008

EVART -- While the Great Lakes Compact is widely applauded by governors, congressional leaders and many environmentalists, Rhonda Huff complained it doesn't go far enough.

She lives on Chippewa Creek near Evart, part of a northern Michigan aquifer tapped by Nestle Waters for bottled water -- 259 million gallons last year.

The compact, overwhelmingly approved by the U.S. House on Tuesday, outlaws siphoning of the Great Lakes basin from outside the region.

However, it allows companies such as Nestle to tap the basin and sell it anywhere.

"Try to explain to me the difference between putting water in bottles and exporting it in tanker trucks?" asked Huff, a spokeswoman for Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, which formed to fight Nestle's northern Michigan water operation.

"The only difference is the water is in bottles in a semi instead of filling a tanker."

U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, a Democrat from Menominee whose district is bordered by three Great Lakes, agreed. He believes the bottled water provision opens the door to large-scale water diversions.

For many, however, Stupak's argument didn't hold water.

Noah Hall, a law professor at Wayne State University who helped draft the compact language when he worked for the National Wildlife Federation, called Stupak's concerns "misguided" and "unfounded."

Stupak was among only 25 House members who voted against the compact, which passed with 390 votes.

All other members of the Michigan delegation -- including U.S. Reps. Peter Hoekstra, R-Holland, and Vern Ehlers, R-Grand Rapids -- voted in favor.

"The bottled water produced in Michigan, much of it is sold within the watershed," said Ehlers, who worked on the legislation for eight years. "We also import bottled water from other places. I think it all balances out."

"Most people don't see the issue that Bart is raising," Hoekstra said. "They see it as a red herring. Obviously, the states and provinces that put this together didn't see the issue."

Michigan in July became the last of eight states to join the agreement. Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed the legislation in Saugatuck on a picnic table overlooking Lake Michigan. The Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec adopted a nearly identical pact.

The U.S. Senate, led by Sen. Carl Levin and with the support of Sen. Debbie Stabenow, approved it in August. President Bush has said he will sign it.

The Great Lakes contain 95 percent of the nation's fresh surface water and 20 percent of the world's fresh surface water.

The need for protection dates back to a 1999 proposal by a Canadian firm to transport tankers full of Lake Ontario water to Asia -- a wake-up call to regions bordering the lakes.

The compact was applauded by many environmentalists, including the Michigan Environmental Council, as well as state environmental officials.

"It provides us far, far greater protection than anything we've had before," said Michigan Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Robert McCann. "This is a huge step in the protection of the Great Lakes."

Michigan Environmental Council policy director James Clift said the only way to limit the exports of bottled water is to scientifically prove an impact on the Great Lakes basin, which the compact would allow.

"That fight might be coming further down the road," he said.