December 16, 2003
Environmental Groups Announce Great Lakes 2004 Agenda
Most Important Year in a Quarter Century

(Albany, NY) – Water diversion and water quality are the two top issues for environmentalists concerned about the future of the Great Lakes and the Great Lakes Watershed. Both issues are set for major action in 2004.

The region’s governors and premiers are promising to wrap up negotiations on a new system for managing Great Lakes Basin water withdrawals so that the area is better protected from future large-scale diversion and export proposals while at the same time preventing water withdrawal abuses that go on inside the basin. The executives have promised to release a draft document, which would involve a new federal compact among the eight Great Lakes states and a new binational agreement between the states and two Canadian provinces in late January or early February.

Meanwhile, the region’s federal representatives, working with the basin’s governors and mayors, have proposed a massive new effort to restore the Great Lakes ecosystem. The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are debating several plans that could lead to an investment of as much as $6 billion over the next decade.

“Millions of families depend on Great Lakes water for our health and survival, but the reality is that the states and provinces in the Great Lakes Basin have little control over what happens to the water,” said Environmental Advocates of New York Great Lakes Project Director David Higby.

To correct this, the governors and premiers have drafted a major amendment to the Great Lakes Charter, the 20-year-old agreement covering water diversion in the Basin. The amendment, called the Annex, waits only for sign-off by the executives. “The Annex contains a number of important water-use protections, including requirements that projects prove they will do no harm, include all reasonable conservation measures and provide a net benefit to the Great Lakes and their tributaries,” explained Higby, who noted that Gov. George Pataki has supported the Annex and has entered the negotiations at key points to make sure the agreement is not weakened. According to participants, the negotiations are scheduled to wrap up early next year. “With the long negotiations over the new agreement coming to an end, we need Governor Pataki to remain vigilant and involved,” Higby said.

In addition to amending the Great Lakes Charter, Congress is considering funding a restoration effort modeled on the one now underway in the Florida Everglades. Congress has been considering Great Lakes restoration funding legislation since an April 2003 General Accounting Office report concluded that the federal government’s efforts to protect the Great Lakes were ineffective and in disarray. Some members of New York’s congressional delegation, including Buffalo-area Rep. Thomas Reynolds, have suggested spending as much as $6 billion on a 10-year restoration effort.

“An investment from the federal government is needed to help restore the Great Lakes,” said Noah Hall of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). “Federal funding would provide critically needed resources for New York and other states whose economies depend on the health of this resource.”

Reg Gilbert, senior coordinator of Great Lakes United (GLU), joined in the call for Congressional action. Gilbert explained that the Great Lakes Restoration Financing Act being considered by Congress would improve coordination of restoration efforts. “The federal proposals rightly call for significant state and local influence over the kinds of projects that are carried out. We just want to make sure the money really goes to restoring the damage that has been done to the environment, rather than to projects with more environmental appearance than substance,” Gilbert said.

The Great Lakes hold 95 percent of the freshwater in the United States and supply drinking water for over 33 million people living in New York and other states in the Great Lakes Basin. The Lakes host a sport fishery valued at over $7 billion annually. And with more than 10,000 miles of shoreline, the Great Lakes are a valuable resource for recreation, tourism and economic development. But this invaluable and unique resource is threatened by diversion of the water, as well as significant threats to its quality. Pollution, contaminated shorelines, damaged wetlands and invasive species all threaten to stall the important progress that has been made to clean up and protect the Great Lakes watershed.

At today’s press conference, the environmentalists also announced they would present Gov. George Pataki with more than a thousand post cards from people living in the Great Lakes Watershed who want the him to continue his efforts to get the best possible deal for New York.