2010 Position Paper
Banning Exports and Diversions of Great Lakes Water
GOAL:Block any attempt to export or divert Great Lakes water outside the basin.
BACKGROUND:Over the years, there have been several proposals to divert Great Lakes water to arid regions of the United States. As a result of a 1998 plan to export Lake Superior water, the governments of the United States and Canada directed the International Joint Commission (IJC), a bi-national agency charged with overseeing uses of Great Lakes water, to make recommendations on this and other matters that affect water levels on the Great Lakes. In an interim report, the IJC recommended a moratorium on any new bulk sales or removals of surface or ground water from the Great Lakes basin. In June of 2001, the Great Lakes governors and premiers of Ontario and Quebec signed the Great Lakes Charter Annex 2001 that initiates development of a binding agreement on the standards that will be used to decide if any future withdrawals or increases in existing withdrawals will be permitted.
BENEFITS TO GREAT LAKES REGION:It is no exaggeration to say that without the Great Lakes, this region would never have become the industrial heartland of the United States. Shipping on the Great Lakes connected the iron ranges of Minnesota and Michigan with the coal mines of Pennsylvania and West Virginia and produced our steel and manufacturing industries. The opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959 gave the region an efficient link to overseas markets. Sport fishing and recreational uses of the Great Lakes are also very important to the region's economy. Last, but not least, 37 million North Americans draw their drinking water from the Great Lakes.
Bulk exports or increased diversions of Great Lakes water threaten the efficiency of Great Lakes shipping. Vessels lose significant cargo carrying capacity each time loaded draft is reduced by just 1 inch. A 1,000-foot-long "Laker" forfeits approximately 270 tons of cargo for each inch of lost draft. An ocean-going vessel trading via the St. Lawrence Seaway loses roughly 100 tons of cargo for each inch of reduced draft.
Although they are immense, the Great Lakes cannot serve as the nation's or the world's fresh water supply. On average, less than 1 percent of the waters of the Great Lakes are renewed annually by precipitation, surface water runoff, and inflow from groundwater resources. The Great Lakes are not an inexhaustible resource. At present, the Lakes are still struggling to recover from an unprecedented drought during which water levels dropped to their lowest point in decades.
ACTION: Monitor attempts to export Great Lakes water and support Federal and State legislation that maintains regional control.
