ONTARIO—Immediately following this newspaper’s Ontario exclusive report on the proposed Waukesha, Wisconsin water diversion application last week, the Government of Ontario sent out a letter of notice to stakeholders, urging them to comment on the Waukesha diversion website and or to take part in a February 11 information session via webinar.
On January 7, the City of Waukesha submitted a water proposal application to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Water Resources Regional Body (Regional Body). As reported previously, the City of Waukesha, Wisconsin has applied to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to divert up to an annual average of $10.1 million gallons (38.2 million litres) of water per day from Lake Michigan.
“Waukesha is located outside the Great Lakes basin but within a county that straddles the basin boundary,” the letter to stakeholders explains. “Therefore, the diversion potentially qualifies for a ‘straddling county’ exception to the ban on diversions under the Agreement (signed by the Great Lakes premiers and governors in 2005).”
The letter notes that Ontarians have the opportunity to comment on the Waukesha proposal until March 14 and encourages stakeholders and the public to do so at www.waukeshadiversion.org.
This time frame for comments rankles with the Union of Ontario Indians (UOI), who believe this isn’t enough time for a complete study of the project in order to comment appropriately, explained Rhonda Gagnon, policy analyst, lands and resources department with the UOI.
Ms. Gagnon acts as an observer with the Regional Body for the UOI, as First Nations are invited to do. This means taking part in conference calls twice a year and invitations to some meetings.
Ms. Gagnon said she learned of the proposal on January 12 by some of the Tribes in Wisconsin, and not from the province, who just made the announcement on Friday, January 29—two days after The Expositor reported the proposal.
“This is giving people an inadequate consultation process,” Ms. Gagnon said, adding that each Great Lakes First Nation community should have been given formal notice.
Ms. Gagnon explained that within the Agreement, there are annexes that state that First Nations must be consulted.
“The province has known about this since January 7,” she explained.
The UOI will be working with the Chiefs of Ontario on this file, but will each be filing a separate comment.
“The catch with this is that it’s about a straddling community,” Ms. Gagnon continued. “We don’t want to deny a community water—a human right. If the eight states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) says yes (to the diversion) and Ontario says no, it doesn’t matter.” Ontario is a non-voting member of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Water Resources Regional Body.
The UOI will be informing the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, the premier’s designate at the Regional Body, that it is not in agreement and that the timeline is inadequate for proper comment.
The Expositor reached Josephine Mandamin at her Thunder Bay home on Monday of this week. Ms. Mandamin, originally from Wikwemikong, is the force behind the Mother Earth Water Walk, which sees First Nations women—the traditional keepers of water—walk the shoreline of a major body of fresh water each year. Her goal, and the goal of her fellow waterwalkers, is to raise awareness of the role women have to play with keeping our bodies of water safe from harm. Women are the givers of life, as is water.
“I think they’re setting a precedent to open the Great Lakes to diversions,” Ms. Mandamin said.
“If they take water out, how do they replace what they take out? And who is going to monitor that it has been done? A lot of times there are promises, but they aren’t kept.”
Ms. Mandamin urged the public to keep abreast of what is going on with our waters, including the nuclear shipping of nuclear-related products via the Great Lakes, another controversial issue.
The next Regional Body and Compact Council meeting is scheduled for February 17 and 18 in Waukesha. The meeting on February 17 is open to the public and includes a tour and information session.
Visit www.waukeshadiversion.org to register your comments. To sign up for the webinar on next Thursday, February 11 email mnrwaterpolicy@ontario.ca.
