November 6, 2006

Wisconsin lakes are public resources, owned in common by the citizens of Wisconsin under the Public Trust Doctrine and the state constitution. No one person can own, control or misuse these resources.

With this strong tradition of public water rights, state legislators should have no problem fully supporting the Great Lakes Compact, (signed by the Great Lakes governors in December 2005). In addition, Wisconsin’s state legislators should strengthen the compact by writing state law to close a loophole that could allow massive diversion of Great Lakes water - one bottle at a time.

If dry Western states tried to take water from Lake Michigan via pipeline or tanker, everyone would strongly object. What if it were only one bottle here - one there? Water bottling plants could locate on shore, sucking Lake Michigan water in millions of gallons, hundreds of thousands of bottles a day, and shipping it cross-country or around the world. The effect would be devastating.

We can prevent such tragedy. As legislative leaders hammer out the Great Lakes Compact and Wisconsin’s enabling legislation, citizens will be watching. I hope our local legislators will be our voice in Madison to protect the Great Lakes.

Allen Stasiewski, town of Waukesha

Manure can cause water contamination

Water purity in streams and lakes is vitally necessary.

Spreading manure from large farms in winter can cause water contamination. Please tell your state representatives to support six months of liquid manure storage for large farms.

Richard M. Franz, New Berlin