Bill Text: MI HCR0018 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: A concurrent resolution to urge Governor Snyder to uphold Michigan's commitment to the principles of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact and to veto the city of Waukesha's request for a diversion from Lake Michigan.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-12-12 - Referred To Committee On Natural Resources [HCR0018 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2013-HCR0018-Introduced.html
Rep. Hobbs offered the following concurrent resolution:
House Concurrent Resolution No. 18.
A concurrent resolution to urge Governor Snyder to uphold Michigan's commitment to the principles of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact and to veto the city of Waukesha's request for a diversion from Lake Michigan.
Whereas, The Great Lakes contain more than 18 percent of the world's, and more than 90 percent of North America's, fresh surface water and provide drinking water to more than 9 million Michigan residents; and
Whereas, Michigan and its economy are defined by the Great Lakes and depend on its abundance of freshwater for manufacturing, tourism, fishing, public water supplies, agriculture, and numerous other uses. Maintaining a healthy Great Lakes system creates jobs and improves Michigan's quality of life. It leads to increases in tourism, the fishing industry, and recreational activity; reductions in costs to municipalities; and increases in property values in coastal areas; and
Whereas, The 2008 Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact is the first-ever shared management, wise-use regional water conservation strategy to protect the world-class resources of the Great Lakes. The compact provides enforceable legal and environmental standards approved by all the Great Lakes states and the U.S. Congress that both provide for regional water needs and protect the Great Lakes; and
Whereas, The compact prohibits diversions out of the Great Lakes basin, with only limited exceptions for communities bordering the basin. The ban on using Great Lakes water beyond the boundary was established, in part, to keep the drought-stricken areas of the country from siphoning off the region's greatest resource; and
Whereas, The city of Waukesha, Wisconsin, has filed an application with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to divert 10.1 million gallons of water per day from the Great Lakes. The application is the first step in getting approval for a water diversion. The city is the first community located outside of the Great Lakes basin, but in a county that straddles the basin boundary, to apply for a diversion from the Great Lakes under the compact. Such communities can request to use water from the basin but must have approval from all eight Great Lakes governors and meet other conditions; and
Whereas, The city of Waukesha's proposal fails to meet the principles of the compact. The limited exception for communities bordering the Great Lakes is to meet the current and critical needs of communities with no other drinking water options, not to support extensive future economic growth outside of the basin; and
Whereas, An approval of the request will set a precedent for countless other bordering communities across the region to use Great Lakes water without demonstrating a critical need. At least seven other cities in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio are in the same situation as Waukesha. It is imperative that the state of Michigan demonstrate its commitment to the compact and set a precedent to protect its principles of designed wise-use conservation; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That we urge Governor Snyder to uphold Michigan's commitment to the principles of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact and to veto the city of Waukesha's request for a diversion from Lake Michigan; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Office of the Governor.
