Minnesota Voters approve $5.5 billion for Land and Water Conservation

SAINT PAUL, Minn., Nov 05, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ — Yesterday Minnesota voters approved the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, the largest conservation ballot measure in history, according to The Trust for Public Land (TPL), a national conservation organization. At more than $5.5 billion dollars for land and water conservation, the winning measure nearly doubles the previous largest conservation ballot measure, New Jersey’s Constitutional Amendment in 1998, which dedicated $2.94 billion in sales tax to the Garden State Preservation Trust.

The historic success of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment will increase investment in clean water, natural areas, cultural legacy, and parks and trails by about $290 million a year for 25 years. An estimated $220 million a year will protect and restore natural areas, parks, and lands vital for water quality.

“Minnesota voters are willing to pay to protect our waters and natural lands for our children and grandchildren,” said Susan Schmidt, director of The Trust for Public Land’s Minnesota Office. “They know that these lakes and natural lands play an important role in preserving our quality of life. With our natural lands diminishing, we could not afford to wait to protect the water quality of our rivers, lakes, and streams, or to conserve natural areas, parks, and habitat for fish and wildlife.”

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Source MarketWatch

Indiana: Water price up 75%!!

Aqua Indiana customers will begin paying 50 percent more for their water and sewer utilities next month.

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approved the company’s 75 percent rate increase request last month. The higher rate will be phased in, with a 50 percent spike taking effect in October and the remainder of the increase in June.

Bill Etzler, vice president and regional manager of Aqua Indiana, said customers won’t see the new rate on their bills until November, and because of billing cycles, the full effect won’t be seen until December for most customers. According to the state, the full increases will mean an extra $19 a month for the average sewer customer and an extra $14 a month for typical water customers.

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Source: Journal Gazzette

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Chicago: Water demand could increase 64 percent by 2050

Water shortages loom on the horizon for the Chicago area unless businesses and government agencies plan effectively, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) says in a report.

Demand for water in 11 counties of northeastern Illinois could increase as much as 64 percent by mid-century, creating potentially serious shortages, according to the report, which was funded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).

The region’s economy and well being depend on the availability of water, the report noted. Lake Michigan is one of the world’s largest fresh water resources, but population forecasts indicated parts of the region may suffer deficits in coming years.

The report includes information on an 11-county deep bedrock aquifer and the Fox River Basin’s shallow bedrock aquifer. (An aquifer is a body of geologic material that can supply useful quantities of groundwater to natural springs and water wells.)

With this report northeastern Illinois now has a clear picture showing implications of our water consumption trends, said CMAP executive director Randy Blankenhorn.

“To ensure an adequate supply for residential, commercial and residential needs, we must start now to plan better and conserve more,” he said.

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Source: The Business Ledger

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Critics: Great Lakes Compact loophole allows bottled water

Lawmakers and concerned environmentalists are sounding the alarm on the Great Lakes Compact just weeks before the historic agreement may be ratified by Congress. They say a loophole would allow businesses to sell bottled Great Lakes water — exactly what the compact was supposed to prevent.

“The compact contains major loopholes that could allow water to be transferred outside of the basin and could result in the privatization of Great Lakes waters for commercial sale, thus undermining the intent of the agreement,” warned U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, in an Aug. 20 letter to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

“The compact contains major loopholes that could allow water to be transferred outside of the basin and could result in the privatization of Great Lakes waters for commercial sale, thus undermining the intent of the agreement,” warned U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, in an Aug. 20 letter to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

The compact prevents Great Lakes water in containers 5.7 gallons or larger from being exported outside the natural drainage basin. The agreement exempts water used to produce a product that’s transferred out of the watershed — for instance steel or beer. The problem is, the compact defines a product as intended for “intermediate or end-use consumers” and bottled water could fall under that definition, Kucinich said.

Work on the compact intensified after public outrage in 1998 when a Canadian company wanted to sell in Asia the equivalent of 50 tankers per year of Lake Superior water.

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Source: The Post Tribune

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Water Bottler wants to build a water pipeline. It seems to be a profitable business!

LANSING, Mich. - A water bottling company has won approval from state regulators to complete construction of a well and pipeline in Osceola County.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality says Nestle Waters North America’s proposal meets permitting requirements. Regulators previously have determined the project isn’t likely to adversely affect surface or groundwater resources.

Greenwich, Conn.-based Nestle plans to withdraw 150 gallons per minute from an aquifer in the county 70 miles north of Grand Rapids. The permit also authorizes the installation of casing beneath wetlands for a future pipeline. The DEQ announced its decision Thursday.

Nestle bottles water in Michigan under the company’s Ice Mountain label.

Source: The Chicago Tribune

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Will Thirsty States Get Great Lakes Water?

For 25 years, residents around the Great Lakes have worried that thirstier regions (or even countries) would make designs on their water. The lakes’ bounty as the single largest freshwater source in the world (holding 18 percent of the Earth’s available surface freshwater) has inspired the eight surrounding states to try to formulate a legal shield ensuring their water stays in their own backyards.

Now, a quarter-century of fitful but fruitful work to come up with a common, enforceable agreement that would ban the export of Great Lakes water in (among other things) pipelines and railroad cars is just one house of Congress away from final federal consent. The long regional nightmare of Great Lakes drained to green golf courses in Arizona is almost over. Business, government and environmental advocates are singing the praises of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact.

But a few voices scattered across the region are charging that the compact, as written, will actually facilitate the commercial export of Great Lakes water.

One of the most vocal voices has been Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich. He fired off letters to the U.S. trade representative, the Department of State and the International Joint Commission (a U.S.-Canadian body that administers the Boundary Waters Treaty, which covers the Great Lakes), asking them to comment on the potential for sale of Great Lakes water.

“Ratifying the compact could allow Great Lakes water to no longer be held within the public trust and instead be defined as a product for commercial use,” says Stupak, whose huge northern Michigan district contains more than 1,500 miles of shoreline on Lakes Superior, Huron and Michigan. “I want to thoroughly understand the lasting impact this compact could have on Great Lakes water for years to come. It took the governors more than three years to get this done, so it is not unreasonable for Congress to take the time necessary to make sure we are not opening the door for the commercialization (of) Great Lakes water.”

What’s all the fuss about? It depends in part on whether any given reviewer of the compact thinks it opens the sluices of the Great Lakes for commercial capture and sale, or is a pragmatic recognition of the reality of an already thriving bottled water industry that dramatically advances sustainable water policy in a region used to water abundance, and waste.

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Source: AlterNet.org

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Officials concerned about future water supply

JOLIET, IL– Potentially serious water shortages are possible in northeastern Illinois’ future, depending on whether the region plans effectively, a new report says.

Under one scenario, demand for water in an 11-county area including Chicago could rise 64 percent by 2050, according to the report, commissioned by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. “To ensure an adequate supply for residential, commercial and recreational needs, we must start now to plan better — and conserve more,” said Randy Blankenhorn, director of the agency.

The report also would seem to give added importance to local water studies, such as the one being conducted in Lockport. In July, the regional planning agency released the report, which describes three possible scenarios for water demand in the 11 counties in the year 2050.

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Source: The Herald News

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Senate passes bill to protect Great Lakes

CHICAGO — Efforts to protect the Great Lakes from those who may covet their vast quantities of water for an increasingly thirsty world took a major step forward Friday as the Senate passed legislation endorsing the Great Lakes Basin Compact.

The broad multi-state agreement would ban most diversion of Great Lakes water to any place outside the basin and would mandate conservation efforts inside it. Despite what some criticized as significant loopholes in the measure, House leaders said the bill would be a priority after the five-week congressional recess, and President Bush has said he would sign it.

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Source: The Chicago Tribune

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