Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News
The Newsletter of the Great Lakes
Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund
The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News is the newsletter of the Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund, published five times per year. The News is intended to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas among citizens and organizations working to protect aquatic habitats in the Great Lakes Basin.
Volume 14, Number 3 • Summer 2006
Lake Michigan
Basin Update
Michigan’s Waterways Get First Ever Protections From Overuse
By Cheryl Mendoza, Alliance for the Great Lakes
In February Governor Granholm signed
Michigan’s first water use laws, after
gaining critical support from a bipartisan
alliance of legislators. This critical support
was gained during a 15 month long
campaign by a coalition of over 50
organizations. For the first time, major
water users in Michigan will need to get a
permit from the state that proves they will not adversely impact
waterways.
"Michigan citizens should be proud of this victory,” said Becky
Beauregard of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters
Education Fund. “Through the combined effort of hundreds of
thousands of citizens,we were able to win new and significant protections
for Michigan’s waterways."
Although the laws start with protections focused on trout streams,
after two years every lake, river, and stream across the state will be
afforded the same protection using the health fish populations as
the indicator of harm. The laws also require permits for the largest
water withdrawals – over 2 million gallons per day (gpd) from inland
waterways and 5 million gpd from the Great Lakes. The laws require
large users to develop a plan to use water efficiently and all users
now must report their water use accurately.
Additionally, the laws require legislative approval for diversions of
water (permanently removed from original watershed) in
containers larger than 5.7 gallons. Moreover, for the first time, large
water bottling operations will need to seek a permit and
prove that they will not adversely impact natural resources, will protect
riparian rights, and be required to undertake activities to restore
the local watershed.
"To truly care for the Great Lakes, we must recognize it is a
watershed that encompasses 8 states and 2 provinces and
develop our laws accordingly.” According to Cheryl Mendoza,
Manager of Water Conservation Programs for the Alliance for the
Great Lakes.“The next step is for our legislature to pass what will be
a regional water use law called the Great Lakes Basin Water
Resources Compact that has been in the making over the past five
years with the other seven Great Lakes states and provinces of
Ontario and Quebec."
Signed by the Great Lakes governors on December 13, 2005 the
Compact aims to ban far off diversions and set ecological,
sustainable standards for water use inside the Great Lakes Basin. To
become a binding law between the eight Great Lakes states,
Michigan’s legislature, along with the other Great Lakes states, must
pass this Compact and approval from Congress must be gained.
Simultaneously, the provinces of Ontario and Quebec are developing
similar provincial laws.
Benton Harbor, MI
Citizen’s Raise Concerns About Development Proposal in Public Park
Within the urban boundaries of the City of
Benton Harbor, MI lie prized coastal
wetlands and a superb 90 acre parcel of Lake
Michigan property. This prized jewel includes
a portion of Jean Klock Park, land that was
donated to be parkland in perpetuity by the
Klock family. This locally rare coastal
ecosystem is threatened by a proposal that
includes a golf course, hotels and residential
development. Citizens are concerned about
the negative impact the proposal will have on
this fragile Great Lakes ecosystem.
This is not the first time this property has
been threatened by development. In 2003, the
group Friends of Jean Klock Park (FJKP) formed
to prevent the sale of a portion of the city
owned park for a residential development.
Their efforts resulted in a lawsuit and a settlement
that allowed a small portion of property
to be developed in exchange for preserving
the remaining park property.
A portion of the park that was to be preserved,
along with an additional 100 acres of
nearby coastal wetlands along the Paw Paw
River, is now part of the large scale development
proposal. The development would
impact the park’s low lying marsh, coastal
wetland areas and a trail behind and along
the ridge of this unique dune property.
FJKP would like to see the park preserved and
used as an outdoor classroom for area school
children and the community. Such a use
would draw tourists to a growing list of ecotourism
locations throughout the state. To
find out more or to help preserve the natural
heritage of the park visit www.savejeanklockpark.
org.
For more information regarding either
Lake Michigan article, please contact:
Cheryl Mendoza, Alliance for the
Great Lakes
PH: (616) 850-0745
E-mail: cmendoza@greatlakes.org.
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