Many MSU students have probably been to at least one of the Great Lakes, if only once. In fact, a large number of Midwesterners have come to lakes Michigan, Huron, Superior, Erie or Ontario to swim, boat, fish or vacation.
Besides supporting Michigan’s tourism industry, which is the second largest contributor to our state’s economy after manufacturing, the Great Lakes are an important environmental resource, housing many freshwater fish and plants. Their freshwater reserves — the largest surface reserves on the entire planet — supply thirsty Michigan and Midwestern agriculture (the third largest economic contributor), in addition to many thirsty Michigan citizens, the water necessary to live and grow.
However, what would happen if those lakes weren’t there anymore? What would happen if one or more of the lakes were made off-limits to tourists and residents, citing high pollution levels? What if the water was unable to be pumped to the cherry producers in Traverse City or the soybean growers in Monroe, let alone to the lead pipes supplying parched Case Hall residents at MSU?
Some may tell you this will never happen. They have the same false logic as many outside of the state — that Michigan is “awash” in water. The water cycle, some say, ensures that the thousands upon thousands of gallons wasted to water lawns and from table water at restaurants will somehow come back to the Great Lakes to be consumed again.
Why then are the Lakes at or near the lowest levels they have ever been? Why do certain areas of Michigan have to enact water moratoriums every summer to control dwindling water supplies amid drought conditions? The answer is we do not have unlimited water to do with as we please. The wasteful practices we have been indulging in for decades combined with the effects of climate change are coming back to haunt us. Unless we change our outlook on the Great Lakes and the environment, we will rapidly destroy the state many of us have come to treasure.
Change is slowly beginning to happen, though. Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed the Great Lakes, Great Michigan package of bills in February 2006. Constraints were placed on Dasani and other water bottling companies to prevent them from sucking our lakes completely dry. In 2006 and 2007, the Legislature began to make progress on regulating aquifer tapping (the process of draining the groundwater that supplies the lakes, streams, rivers, tributaries and us), another step in fighting low lake levels. Also, the public outcry was great when BP Amoco PLC wanted to dump vast amounts of ammonia and sludge into Lake Michigan, with Facebook.com groups, Web sites and other forms of grassroots activism coming into play to protect our most treasured resource.
Despite this progress, there is more that needs to be done. Michigan, while the only state to border four of the five Great Lakes, is one of the eight states to have territorial claims to them. Efforts need to be made so that should Michigan reject a company from draining the lakes, it doesn’t just relocate to Illinois or Wisconsin to continue its destructive practices. The strongest attempt to do this is the Great Lakes Compact, an eight-state legislative package that, when fully ratified, will put the power to control water withdrawals into the hands of the people rather than a few legislators.
This compact is falling victim to the water politics it is seeking to abolish. Three states have already passed it, while Michigan and the other states are considering it. Wisconsin and Ohio are presenting a challenge to this bill, wanting to amend it to allow more areas than just the Great Lakes Basin areas to withdraw water. This is problematic as the compact only goes into effect if every state passes the same language. If one state refuses to agree, it acts as a veto, sinking the entire project.
There is no excuse for this. Politicians from both parties need to have the leadership necessary to fight politics as usual and make a decision with the interests of the people in mind, rather than their careers. It is at this point we need to stand up and show our elected officials we will not support continuing the policies of the past that risk destroying the Great Lakes — the environmental jewel that sustains us and provides us great enjoyment.
Tom Choske is a State News columnist. Reach him at chosketh@msu.edu.
Published on Thursday, February 21, 2008
