Great Lakes Safe For Now

Back in 1998 an entrepreneur wanted to extract water from Lake Superior and ship it to Asia via tanker ships.  Apparently the Ontario Ministry of the Environment approved that plan before people found out about it and were not happy about it.

According to an article in the Lansing State Journal Canadian and U.S. governments asked the International Joint Commission, a commission which addresses Great Lakes water issues, to examine how to protect the lakes from large-scale diversions such as the Ontario plan.  The agency issued recommendations in a report they issued in 2000.

Now more than a decade later the protections put in place to prevent such large-scale diversion of Great Lakes water has been deemed successful.  According to the consultants reviewing the outcomes stated that the Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces must remain vigilant and utilize emerging technologies and scientific advances to maintain the positive momentum since the report was issued.

The review of the measures taken via the report was conducted by the President of Ralbet Enterprises and acting chairman of the Canadian Water Issues Council at the University of Toronto, as well as a Professor of Environmental and Geological Engineering at Michigan Technological University.

According to the review they found many areas of success:

• The policy gaps identified in 2000 have largely been filled.

• The eight states and two Canadian provinces on the Great Lakes have made significant progress in implementing water protection measures, especially the Great Lakes Compact and parallel agreement with Ontario and Quebec.

• Consumptive uses of Great Lakes water have declined in the past decade.

The reviewers were quoted in the article stating: “Moving forward, it is important to remember that there really is no ‘surplus’ water in the Great Lakes Basin. From an ecosystem perspective, it is all in use, even in periods of high supply.”

Great to hear that such a beautiful resource, as the Great Lakes are, are being looked after and preserved.

What are your thoughts?

Let’s discuss this today on my show The Live with Renk  show, which airs Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to noon, to let me know your thoughts at (269) 441-9595.

Or please feel free to start a discussion and write your thoughts in the comment section.