ERMUSR Misc. Issues 01-11-2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

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New Rules For Great Lakes Water Use ?Michigan :lttorney General h4ike Cox questioned the implementing agreements since they' could ~~~eaken ?s9ichigan's au- thority to veto requests for withdrawals. "Today, ?y'lichigan hrs the po~~~er to say 'no' to the diversion uF Great Lakes water. Phis right to preserve the Great I-,tikes must be maintained," he said. "Careful legal study and evaluation is needed to ensure that it is the best way to achieve the desired end.., Ne~~~ Fork Power Autlrorih-'s Osinsld, a member uF the ad~isorti group, suggested the states will likel;. address d~re competitive advantage issue and other concerns during the public couunent process. Overall, "tire Great Lakes are tyre rem on's biggest asset - arrytlung drat improves their effec6~ e utiliza- tion is a plus," he scud. Coirrmurritics that need more ~aa- ter due to population growth or economic develops-rent will hay-e a greater chance of regional review if • , ,._ ,,!„~rroenm~_ "lineman Central" on the Internet. When linemen are looking for a new job the FIRST place they look to is powerlineman.com. With over 25,000 unique users per month, the cost of posting your job opportunity works out to only 2 cents per lineman viewing your ad. The best value anywhere. We also have over 300 resumes on 61e for you to search LIN EM '~R ~~ Y O PHONE:303-702-1716 O ~~ .~.:;.: _..- ~ "..+ti+,.,,~...s'M..o..wY..wy:w.:-..-Nw.r~-~-~tr+ay~..~"^'ik,;- .rn „,y.a•'ty'~•.+;,. ,r'`'~", PO JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2005 they implement or expand on water and sewer a~nser,-ation measures and if the return floe- returns to the Croat Lakes basin. At this tune, it is unclear hose tyre re~~ew process will work once finalized or to ~yhat extc;nt states will use it competitively to affect facilih~ sit- ing decisions. The 1985 Great L~rkes Charter called for the development and m,rintenance of a database on «-titer use; diversion and crn1- sumptivt: use, but there was ef-fecti~•ely no follo~~•-through on the commitment. The compact would codify the data collection reduirement. Each entity that ~yithdra~~s more than 100,000 gallons per day avera~~e in any 30-day period or diverts ~-eater out of the basin ~~~•111 need to register by a date set by the council and report annually. Great Lake-s states ~~~11 g~+ther information on all basin ~~~ithdrawals in excess of .100,000 gal- lons per day and all diversions and annually report this information to a regional ~a~ater use database. Currenth~; such information is not available fix each state. Each state or pro~nnce unll be responsi- ble: for notifyv~g the public of all proposal applications and provide the opportunity for public comment. Even five years or each time there is an incremental loss of 50 million gallons a day, the compact calls For the states and prop-inees to assess the cumulative im- pacts of withdra~~als, diversions and consumptive uses from the waters of the Great Lakes basin. Initially, the surface water di~idc ~.~~11 bc: used to define the Croat Lakes basin ground water di~idc, though this may not reflect where the divide actually exists- Ovcr time, the definition ~~dl] be updated as the scientific understanding of ground water flows improves. The council may petition a court to suspend a state's or province's right to rote if it is in ~~iolation of its duties under the compact. Vlore information on the proposed standard can be found on the Council of Great Lakes Governors Web site, ~ti„v~cglg.or-g. ^ Ann McCabe is a partner with Policy Solutions Ltd., an environmental policy consulting firm based in Chicago. PuRIIC POWER We are the original. Sine 1997 powerlineman.com has been