Uppity Wisconsin

Water Panel Weak On Specifics

The Politics of Water. Thursday, May 21.

A panel ensconced by the Public Policy Forum in a Wauwatosa hotel, was strong on the language of cooperation, happy about the International Water Compact, and true believers in the new "work together" mood of our nation.

Michael Murphy,  Alderman from Milwaukee, spoke of the issues on which Milwaukee would like cooperation: affordable housing, transit, and economic development of distressed areas. What he might have added is some conceptual material - how all of these things work together in a healthy city. Unfortunately he did not bring to the table The Now Issue: why it is that Transit, today as they spoke, could be the most effective signal of cooperation from Waukesha (County and City). Nor did he suggest, and reasonably he could have, why Milwaukee officials are looking to a private, international water corporation for serious money after being rebuffed on many fronts in Madison over school funding, dedicated transit funding that brings federal dollars, and health care costs.

When you don't like an agreement, see if you can change the wording after all parties signed on, and also agreed to making no major changes.

That's what Waukesha wants to do with the eight-state Great Lakes Compact - - toss out its major decision-making standard.

That's so Waukesha can get more water, or so it thinks.

Similar thing happening in Georgia.

Legislators there want to change the boundary with Tennessee, so Tennessee water becomes Georgia water.

If these jurisdictions were talking conservation and sustainable planning and development, none of these tricks would even be open for discussion.

Details here.

In the last few weeks, a coalition of elected officials in Milwaukee County, along with a separate action by Milwaukee's Common Council, approved strong resolutions of support for the Great Lakes Compact.

The Compact is an agreement among the eight Great Lakes states to establish diversion rules, conservation standards and legal processes to preserve this precious regional fresh water system.

The Madison Capital Times editorially amplified these growing calls for action by urging the state legislature to approve and implement the Compact.

The Cap Times editorial was an unusually strong statement: details here.

Two environmental organizations - - Friends of Milwaukee's Rivers and Midwest Environmental Advocates (a public interest law firm) - - are trying to use the US Clean Water Act to stop something pretty unbelievable:

A Milwaukee business is routinely dumping toxins, including cancer-causing chemicals, into the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District system - - but the MMSD's treatment methods cannot get the poisons out.

Which means they flow into Lake Michigan, where any number of cities get their drinking water, and from which people eat fish.

 Details here.

Dave Dempsey is one of the Great Lakes most credible, prolific writers and activists, and he thinks the Wisconsin DNR is treading on thin ice if it thinks it can approve a diversion of Lake Michigan water to New Berlin without the approval of all eight Great Lakes states.

As others, including then-Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlater have pointed out, it's a matter of federal law.

Details here.

I detail here, using Wisconsin's open records law, how the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources argues that a 21-year-old federal statute controlling how water can be diverted from the Great Lakes doesn't necessarily apply to the agency.

To make matters worse, major media in Wisconsin will not disclose a lengthy Wisconsin Attorney General opinion that documents just how and why the law does apply to Wisconsin. 

Two years ago this December, the Great Lakes governors and Canadian premiers met in Milwaukee and agreed to a Compact to manage the Great Lakes. Two years later, Wisconsin doesn't even have a draft bill on the table,

And in December of 2006, Wisconsin's Attorney General warned state agencies like the DNR that it could not approve a diversion of Great Lakes water to a city like New Berlin or Waukesha without the approval of all the other Great Lakes states, according to a federal law.

The DNR is dismissive of the opinion, and major media in the state will not report it.

So here's more information about both the legislative and media failures to protect the Great Lakes. Some legacy for Wisconsin.

Additional posts about water, Great Lakes politics, at The Political Environment blog.

From Paul Soglin's Waxing America - Go read the reports Paul posts to here - if you care about any of us in Wisconsin having any water left in a few years.

Wisconsin Water: Midwest Environmental Advocates - No discussion of water is complete without the participation of Midwest Environmental Advocates (MEA). An excellent place to start is their report, Realizing the Promise of the Great Lakes Compact: A Policy Guide for State Implementation. Also important is Protecting... paul soglin [Paul Soglin - Waxing America]

One of the more astonishing dynamics in southeastern Wisconsin arises in Waukesha, where opinion-makers want Milwaukee resources - - land for freeways, water for development - - but are perfectly able to trash Milwaukee in print without seeing anything hypocritical or inconsistent or flat-out counterproductive when doing it.

If it were up to me, I'd throw this virulently anti-Milwaukee op-ed in The Waukesha Freeman, referenced here, back in the face of every politician, business leader, editorial writer or everyday citizen in Waukesha County when they came looking to Milwaukee for resources. 

Everytime.

Want to help stop the diversion of Great Lakes water? Want to make sure communities improve their water conservation?

An International agreement with Canada is undergoing review and the public comment period ends June 8th.

I had posted the other day about the urgency surrounding public comment on the Great Lakes Compact's conservation standard-setting.

     Here is a nice, direct link to join the debate.

     Or go here for an email address - - commentscglg [dot] org (  commentscglg [dot] org)

     Just do it before June 8th.