The Great Lakes Compact is one step closer to reality. All eight US Great Lakes Basin states have approved the measure; Congress now has to give its blessing.
The Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec have signed on. Although Quebec does not border any of the lakes and is outside the basin, it is a signatory because of its position along the St. Lawrence River, which emanates from the lakes and dictates that Quebec make water management decisions with Ontario and the GLB states.
NPR had a piece on the compact the other day, which featured an interview with Wayne State University law professor Noah Hall, who runs the Great Lakes Law blog. Noah's an expert and was involved in the compact process, so you should consult his blog for stories and links. Here's a 4 July post on the success story and a post from 8 July on what's next for the compact.
In terms of how much water the lakes hold, NPR got it right:
The five Great Lakes — Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie and Ontario — contain about 90 percent of the fresh surface water in the U.S. and about one-fifth of the entire world's supply. The Great Lakes Water Compact aims to protect the lakes from large-scale water diversions.
I got the map from the Michigan DEQ, which had the amount wrong (20% of the world's fresh water) on its map page but correct (20% of the world's fresh surface water) on its Great Lakes home page. I won't ding them for omitting "unfrozen".
I agree with Noah (I'm going to disagree with a Great Lakes expert who helped draft the compact?) - I think this will pass Congress. Even though some Westerners (and perhaps some Southeasterners) lust after "all that water" I think Congress will respect the wishes of the eight GLB states (who still have a lot of clout). Congress likes to see the states resolve their own "water differences" by negotiating compacts. One of my colleagues believes that the compact may violate the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution.
Do you recall New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's "Wisconsin is awash in water" comment last year? Didn't go over real well with the folks in the Great Lakes Basin and elsewhere. At the time, Richardson was a presidential candidate. I suspect that his comment may have had something to do with getting the last states on board.
So what happens when Canada dumps all that NARA project fresh water from James Bay into Lake Superior? Won't we be able to ship it to the US West or Southeast?
"A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature." -- Henry David Thoreau
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