The Ability to Use Natural Resources Responsibly

Trotta: Lee's catch ~Enlarge

The ability to use Great Lakes water responsible is critical to all of us in the Basin.  Multiple stakeholders invested major time and effort in the development of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact.  It was passed in the summer of 2008 by the Congress and signed by the President.  The ability of the Region to produce this is very impressive.  Developing and agreeing on the Compact is a noteworthy achievement and a significant example of Regional cooperation.

Retaining the States’ authority to manage water use is a critical element, particularly when it comes to managing diversion and implementing conservation measures. The fact that the States and Provinces are putting into effect provisions to manage the control and use of water, while including protection to prohibit diversions to outside the Basin, is the sort of assurance necessary for industry. Industry is able to understand what it needs to do in order to be able to continue to use the resource.

Industry needs that assured access to water because of many processes that are dependent upon the availability of that water.  Industry is concerned that as States implement the provisions of the Compact, the processes that are put into effect are efficient and non-burdensome, and are supportive of resource use and sustainable development. 

The critical understanding is that water is an eminently reusable resource.  If we handle it properly, it can be used and reused a number of times.

I believe we are very fortunate that the Great Lakes Compact does not lock-up the resource and prevent its use, but rather understands the nature of the resource and its reusability.

Is it also important to realize that use does not mean degradation of the resource.  In multiple cases, the water returned after industrial use to the Basin of of higher quality than what was removed from the Basin to begin with.  We are fortunate to have abundant fresh water - very fortunate.  I believe that over the last three decades we have demonstrated increasing responsibility in oversight and management of the resource, and we have done so as a result of multi-stakeholder input.