By KEVIN WALKER Michigan Correspondent LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed landmark legislation last week making Michigan a signatory to the Great Lakes Water Compact, a multi-state compact that would create special protections for Great Lakes waters at the federal level. The governor also signed several other pieces of legislation regarding water use in the state, creating more rules and regulations regarding water withdrawals. She did this at a bill-signing event on Lake Michigan’s Oval Beach in Saugatuck. “This is a defining moment in Michigan history,” Granholm said. “We must do our part to ensure that our Great Lakes are protected and preserved for generations to come – this legislation fulfills that promise.”
A big bone of contention over the water use legislation was how a new water withdrawal assessment tool would be implemented. The tool, which is an Internet-based point-and-click system, will be a required assessment device once it’s been phased in.
The tool is essentially a computer model based on parameters created by scientists, but agricultural interests have been a little skeptical.
“We adopted the Senate version of the legislation,” said state Sen. Patty Birkholz (R-Saugatuck Township), a main sponsor of the legislation. “We’re very happy with it. It is a science-based decision-making tool. Peer reviewed research was built into this. “This is well-respected research. I think this is a stellar example of science and policymakers coming together. I feel really comfortable with this.”
Birkholz said environmentalists involved in crafting the legislation told her that people who can’t even agree “on how to tie their shoes” agree that the assessment tool should become an integral part of the new system.
“We have always supported the Senate package of bills,” said Matt Smego, a legislative counsel for the Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB). The Farm Bureau wanted a one-year phase-in period for the assessment tool, so that users could get used to the new system and provide feedback to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), which will be responsible for maintaining it. Although the House version of the legislation had no phase-in period, the Senate version did.
After the DEQ finishes developing the tool, there will be a three-month phase-in period. Feb. 1, 2009, is the date the tool will be activated and mandatory, Birkholz said.
After the signing, the Farm Bureau applauded the “historic agreement.”
“Michigan farmers rely on water to produce food,” said Wayne Wood, MFB president, after the signing. “As such, this legislative package accomplishes two things that are critical to the continuation and growth of agriculture in this state.
“One, it protects the Great Lakes from diversion by ratifying the Great Lakes Compact into Michigan law. Secondly, it implements a water management system that includes the adoption of a first-of-its-kind water use assessment tool that will help water users to understand if a new use will adversely impact the environment.” Michigan is now the seventh state to ratify the multi-state compact. Pennsylvania remains the only of the eight Great Lakes states that hasn’t signed on to the agreement. According to Birkholz, the Pennsylvania House has passed the legislation, and it’s being considered now in the Senate.
The Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec are doing the same thing, she said.
Birkholz also said the Michigan delegation is strongly behind the compact, and that the U.S. Congress usually ratifies multi-state agreements because the legislators believe that if several states can get together on something, the federal lawmakers shouldn’t reject it.
“We think it’s important to get the compact ratified before the next census,” Birkholz said.
That’s because Michigan, which is losing some of its population, is probably going to lose representation after the next reapportionment. |