MILWAUKEE - It was a watershed moment for the Great Lakes. A seven-year push by the region's governors to build a legal dike around the world's largest freshwater system almost died in Madison in February. However, Wisconsin lawmakers grossly underestimated swelling public support for Great Lakes protection.
MILWAUKEE - It was a watershed moment for the Great Lakes.
A seven-year push by the region's governors to build a legal dike around the world's largest freshwater system almost died in Madison in February.
The Great Lakes Compact to protect the region's water from being pumped away to thirsty states had passed three state legislatures and the Wisconsin Senate. However, a handful of Wisconsin Assembly leaders - fretting that the compact might hamper Wisconsin's ability to pipe Lake Michigan water to Waukesha County and other booming areas - tried to derail the measure by refusing to bring it to a vote before the Legislature adjourned for the year.
Cladophora algae coats the sand on the beach in Algoma, Wis., this past May. The algae covers the whole beach and rots in the sun, creating a stench. Invasive species have caused the Cladophora that is hitting beaches all over Lake Michigan.
They allied themselves with Ohio lawmakers also bent on scuttling an agreement that needed approval from all eight Great Lakes legislatures, thinking they'd found a winning issue with water-dependent industries and the thirsty Wisconsin communities lying just outside the Great Lakes basin.
However, they grossly underestimated the swelling public support for Great Lakes protection and, within two months, their opposition caved like a dam built of sand, unleashing what conservationists say has become a "tidal wave'' of bipartisan support for Great Lakes protection, the likes of which they've never seen.
"There was a crush of momentum - a stampede,'' for the remaining states to pass the compact, says Cameron Davis, president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes. "None of the states wanted to be the last one to approve the compact.''
That wave might ripple into the upcoming presidential election, where several Great Lakes states could tip the balance.
However, the compact isn't the only Great Lakes issue that has grabbed the public's attention.
Great Lakes advocates say the No. 1 threat to the lakes today is the onslaught of invasive species that have ravaged native ecology. Unwanted organisms dumped by the relatively tiny number of oceangoing ships that visit the lakes each year have been implicated in fish population crashes, algae-smothered shorelines and botulism outbreaks that have led to widespread bird die-offs.
The toll of these invaders is ecological and economic - the cost of pipe-clogging zebra mussels to water-dependent industries alone has been estimated at $1.5 billion. The estimated annual economic gain tied to the overseas ships: $55 million. Add in lost property values due to noxious algae piling up in front of lakefront properties, lost access to public beaches and vanishing fishing opportunities, and the economics of overseas shipping on the lakes looks even worse.
MILWAUKEE - It was a watershed moment for the Great Lakes.
A seven-year push by the region's governors to build a legal dike around the world's largest freshwater system almost died in Madison in February.
The Great Lakes Compact to protect the region's water from being pumped away to thirsty states had passed three state legislatures and the Wisconsin Senate. However, a handful of Wisconsin Assembly leaders - fretting that the compact might hamper Wisconsin's ability to pipe Lake Michigan water to Waukesha County and other booming areas - tried to derail the measure by refusing to bring it to a vote before the Legislature adjourned for the year.
They allied themselves with Ohio lawmakers also bent on scuttling an agreement that needed approval from all eight Great Lakes legislatures, thinking they'd found a winning issue with water-dependent industries and the thirsty Wisconsin communities lying just outside the Great Lakes basin.
However, they grossly underestimated the swelling public support for Great Lakes protection and, within two months, their opposition caved like a dam built of sand, unleashing what conservationists say has become a "tidal wave'' of bipartisan support for Great Lakes protection, the likes of which they've never seen.
"There was a crush of momentum - a stampede,'' for the remaining states to pass the compact, says Cameron Davis, president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes. "None of the states wanted to be the last one to approve the compact.''
That wave might ripple into the upcoming presidential election, where several Great Lakes states could tip the balance.
However, the compact isn't the only Great Lakes issue that has grabbed the public's attention.
Great Lakes advocates say the No. 1 threat to the lakes today is the onslaught of invasive species that have ravaged native ecology. Unwanted organisms dumped by the relatively tiny number of oceangoing ships that visit the lakes each year have been implicated in fish population crashes, algae-smothered shorelines and botulism outbreaks that have led to widespread bird die-offs.
The toll of these invaders is ecological and economic - the cost of pipe-clogging zebra mussels to water-dependent industries alone has been estimated at $1.5 billion. The estimated annual economic gain tied to the overseas ships: $55 million. Add in lost property values due to noxious algae piling up in front of lakefront properties, lost access to public beaches and vanishing fishing opportunities, and the economics of overseas shipping on the lakes looks even worse.
Even compact advocates predicted that it might still take years for Congress to review and vote on an agreement that the states began working on in 2001.
Now it looks as if it might happen in a matter of weeks. The U.S. Senate passed it unanimously a little more than a week after it was introduced - a ridiculously short amount of time for a legislative body built for cautious deliberation.
The House Judiciary Committee also unanimously approved the measure, and the full House is now expected to take it up after the August recess.
Calling the Great Lakes "a national treasure,'' President Bush issued a statement in late July prodding lawmakers to move quickly, and promising to sign the deal.
Both presidential candidates have stated their support for the compact.
Suddenly, everybody wants to play a part in preserving the Great Lakes.
Nobody saw this coming six months ago.
Wayne State University assistant law professor Noah Hall, who was instrumental in drafting the compact during his previous job as an attorney for the National Wildlife Federation, says he was often asked during the years of drafting and negotiations about the likelihood of the compact actually becoming law.
Until this summer, he never gave it better than a 50 percent chance.
"I am so pleasantly shocked and surprised. I still can't believe it's actually happening,'' he says.
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Posted By: J(3:49pm 08-22-2008)
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Too bad they weren't protected years ago. Business interests should never trump ecosystems and water quality.
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