Great Lakes Diversions

The Great Lakes Compact became federal law on October 3, 2008.  In the years preceding this historic passage, MEA worked tirelessly with allies across Wisconsin and the Great Lakes region to get this important legislation passed.  With the enactment of Act 227, Wisconsin’s implementing legislation, MEA achieved its goal of a strong Compact in Wisconsin  Now MEA will be continuing to work hard to ensure that the Compact is implemented in a manner consistent with the spirit and intent of the Compact and, above all, protective of our Great Lakes resources.

One important component of the Great Lakes Compact is its prohibition of water diversions outside of the Great Lakes basin—with  limited exceptions for communities either straddling the Basin divide or located in counties partially within the Basin. The Great Lakes Basin is the watershed within which water from streams, lakes, rivers and groundwater eventually flows back into the Great Lakes . Water diverted outside of the Basin by pipeline or bottle will never naturally return to the Great Lakes once it has been removed. Although the Great Lakes are vast in size, they are increasingly vulnerable in the face of global warming and ecological assaults and, as such, must be protected against unwise or poorly regulated diversions.  MEA is working closely with partner organizations at the state and regional level to make sure that key Compact provisions governing diversions—for example, how and in what condition the water will be returned—are implemented legally and fairly.   

Wisconsin communities outside of the Great Lakes Basin have indicated interest in receiving diversions of Lake Michigan water. MEA is pleased to be a contributor to the new blog Great Lakes Diversion Watch, a new and exiting tool for keeping you up to date on the latest developments in Great Lakes water diversions.

Waukesha , WI has recently released a plan to receive waters from Lake Michigan . MEA, along with a coalition of other nonprofit and conservation organizations, has submitted a list of important questions and environmental concerns to Waukesha 's Mayor Nelson. Read those questions here in the short version or expanded version.

On behalf of a coalition of environmental groups, Midwest Environmental Advocates has submitted comments on New Berlin's amended sample diversion application to use Great Lakes water in the Mississippi River Basin.  Other comments were also sent by MEA's allies on the same topic.  Read the press release to learn more about this critical issue for the future health of the Great Lakes.

In March of 2010 MEA, together with a number of environmental and civil rights organizations, commented on the inadequacy of the socioeconomic impact analysis currently being conducted for the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission regarding proposed diversion of Lake Michigan water to Waukesha and other communities located outside of the Great Lakes basin. The comments noted the history of residential segregation in the region, disparities in access to jobs and to transportation, and the legal prohibitions on government programs and activities with discriminatory impacts on minority populations.  It emphasized the need to evaluate the relative socioeconomic impacts of unrestrained suburban sprawl which the proposed diversions may encourage, versus more limited infill development, which would also provide environmental benefits.

In June of 2010 the DNR returned the City of Waukesha’s application for a diversion of Lake Michigan water. The Department identified a number of deficiencies in the application relating to key requirements under the Great Lakes Compact.   According to the Department, Waukesha’s application did not include an adequate assessment of the other reasonable water supply alternatives available to the City, nor did the application provide sufficient cost estimates relating to the corresponding withdrawal and return flow options.  MEA, along with a coalition of other environmental groups applauded the DNR's decision in a press release June 9, 2010.

NEWS! MEA and its Compact Implementation Coalition partners again have urged Wisconsin DNR to find Waukesha's water diversion application to be incomplete. In a letter in December 2010, the DNR had informed Waukesha that its initial application was incomplete and inadequate in numerous respects, raising many of the same concerns which MEA and other members of the Compact Implementation Coalition had previously pointed out. In April, Waukesha submitted additional materials, but even after being supplemented, many of the same deficiencies remain. 

Read the 2011 letter that the Compact Implementation Coalition wrote to DNR here.