This might've been previously mentioned, but a search didn't show anything that I could immediately identify as having done so. If it's old news, too bad. It's worth repeating, IMO.

I have recently become professionally involved in 2 projects pertaining directly to potable water availability and hadn't heard anything about drawing water from our Great Lakes in massive containers and shipping it anywhere before then. At the end of last month (September) the White House granted approval to the Great Lakes Pact.

This is an important issue, and as a boater and fishing enthusiast, it worries me that this isn't being shouted from the mountaintops as a critical issue, especially here in Sweet Home Chicago. Here are a few highlights from an article from the Detroit News:




I would urge everyone on this board to try to get involved with this. It directly affects our lifestyles.

Also, if anyone is already part of a group or organization that is taking some action to protect the Lakes, it'd probably be a good idea to share that with the rest of us. There's strength in numbers!

This sounds like an anti-business totally environmentalist thing to me CJS.


What industry wouldn't adversely affect the ecosystem?

Hey I am all for keeping things clean, including steel mills, power plants and other heavy industries. But if we want to live, we have to have those things. As long as they aren't creating Superfund sites and purposely dumping waste into the lakes, I'm okay with it.

This bill sound like a way to kill all new commercial enterprise that might want to come to the shores of the Great Lakes.
Maybe I am wrong, but I doubt it.

Billy, they're talking about removal of mass quantities of water, not dumping industrial crap into it.

The example I read of was a group or corporation that wanted to fill tanker trucks of water from Lake Superior and ship it to China for drinking there.

CJS, I believe that you believe that. But in the end, I'll bet you a quarter that the legislation would be used to stop ALL industrial water useage. This is how these things start.

if a few tankers full of water would be missed, we can just rename them the "better" lakes. why not go ahead and ship the water overseas? a few splashes of melamine first ought to do the trick.

all kidding aside, desalinating plants and a pipeline would probably be cheaper for china in the long run as well as sustainable. heck, they already have a great wall they could use as an aquaduct.

CJS I'm 100% with you. We have the most precious resource and it needs to be protected much better. Water withdrawls are very serious. I have always been concerned that our friends who have decided to live in arid areas of the country will try to tap in. I'll start storing dynamite when construction begins. Industrial use is fine if the water is returned clean. What is more important, clean water or gold?

It would also be nice if our bribe taking pol's would make the container ships do a balast exchange to stop the invasive species. People forget that there used to be a commercial fishing "industry" in the Great Lakes. Wouldn't it be wonderful if that were to happen again?

seems like a finger in the dyke to me.
so the great lakes are sucked down to send it all over the world.
what happens when they are dry?
china:if every one of their people got a gallion a day,how long would the lakes last?
send it to africa to take care of the desserts
POOF!!! WE ALL LIVE IN A DESSERT!!!

BAD IDEA!!

woosterken

I remember hearing, in the not-to-distant-past, a politico from an arid state (AZ, NM come to mind) who wanted to construct a pipeline from the Great Lakes to the southwest. I could not believe my ears! Live in the desert if you want to, A-H*le, but if you want Minnesota's water, move to Minnesota.

Quote from: http://www.sheddaquarium.org/pdf/publicrelations/fs_greatlakeswatersupply.pdf

"All of Chicago’s nearly three million residents, and many from the surrounding suburbs, rely on Great Lakes water for life. Lake Michigan water withdrawals account for nearly half of all the water taken from the Great Lakes each year. Every day in Chicago, one billion gallons are processed for drinking, bathing, laundry, industry and so much more. However, due to the city’s 1900 reversal of the Chicago River, Lake Michigan water used by the city is not returned to the lake. Instead, it flows out of the Great Lakes basin, to the Mississippi River and, ultimately, to the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, the reversal of the Chicago River accounts for approximately 2.1 billion gallons of water drained from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico every single day."

So, how does the Chicago removal get through the pact? Seems like that's exactly what the previously stated clause is about.

Grandfathered in. There is a limit though

Interesting that Chi doesn't put the water back in Lk MI. Those of us who take our water from the Mississippi actually put it back there - usually cleaner than it was when taken out.

Don't let Southern California agriculture interests hear about this. They'll be building a canal to Duluth before you know it.