Municipality should be encouraged to manage their groundwater and explore options
To the Expositor:
Further to the article written in The Manitoulin Expositor dated February 3, 2016 (‘Ontario requests citizen input on L. Michigan water diversion proposal,’ Page 1), I am registering my comments to www.waukeshadiversion.org:
The City of Waukesha’s request to divert 10.1 million gallons of water a day from Lake Michigan has to be vetoed. This water diversion is a real threat to the Great Lakes.
According to the International Joint Commission (IJC) report entitled: Protection of the Waters of the Great Lakes-December 2015:
“Climate change poses new challenges for adapting to fluctuating Great Lakes water levels. Although the future is not certain, increases in temperature and alterations in patterns of precipitation are likely to affect water levels in the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River system. There is strong evidence that in the future we will likely experience more extreme water levels-both high and low-that is outside the historical range experienced over the past century.”
“Moving forward, it is important to remember that there really is no ‘surplus’ water in the Great Lakes Basin. Finally, awareness and education of public and private sectors as to the critical current issues facing the Great Lakes are essential to ensure the protection of this unique and valuable ecosystem and associated services.”
The IJC 2015 Recommendation 7 states:
Great Lakes states and provinces should fully factor the adverse ecological and water quality impacts of groundwater withdrawals into both water use permitting procedures and decisions regarding consumptive use. Great Lakes states and provinces should identify where groundwater levels are continuing to decline and recommend management strategies for stabilizing groundwater levels. Federal, state and provincial research should continue to improve mapping and understanding groundwater aquifers in the basin, determining where groundwater supplies may be degraded in the future, identifying management methods for avoiding these problems, and achieving an improved understanding of the relationship among land uses and groundwater and surface water quality and stream habitat.
Before any decision is made on the Waukesha Diversion application, the International Joint Commission report “Protection of the Waters of the Great Lakes – December 2015” should be read by the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Water Resources Regional Body and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Then the decision will be made based on the Report’s recommendations.
It is vital that Waukesha’s application be denied and Waukesha will be encouraged to manage their groundwater and explore environmentally responsible economic development opportunities that do not exploit the Great Lakes.
Sincerely,
Carol White
Toronto
