Great Lakes expert and author Peter Annin this week declared Michigan a "water cowboy" and cast doubt on the Great Lakes states' long-term ability to keep other regions' thirsts at bay.

Another Great Lakes expert, Wayne State University law professor Noah Hall, sees greater promise. And, in this special guest column, Hall quickly outlines Michigan water issues and explains what's at stake if the historic Great Lakes Compact isn't passed by all Great Lakes states and Congress…

Can the region come together around the Great Lakes Compact?

By Noah Hall

The Great Lakes Compact could be the regional policy success story of the decade. If passed, it would prevent diversions of Great Lakes water out of the region and establish new water conservation and environmental protection standards for water use within the region. The significance of the compact goes beyond water protection, however. It sets a precedent for the region coming together around our common values and interests. To take effect, the compact must be approved by all eight Great Lakes states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York) and Congress. The skeptics said that these states would never agree on anything. But in December 2005, all eight governors put aside partisan and geographic differences and reached a deal. Now it is up to the state legislatures to take the next step and turn that deal into law.

The vast majority of state lawmakers have risen to the challenge. As with any major policy initiative, the Great Lakes Compact is a compromise that makes everyone better off, but doesn’t give everyone everything they want. Businesses and farmers are assured a reliable supply of water to meet their economic needs, even if it means a little more government management and oversight. Environmentalists can celebrate the new protections for Great Lakes natural resources, although some would like to see the compact standards strengthened. Despite these compromises, the compact has tremendous support throughout the region. Over ten thousand citizens participated in the public comment process for the compact, and state lawmakers listened to their constituents. Minnesota was the first state to pass the compact last year, and Illinois quickly followed. Earlier this year, New York and Indiana (states that have little in common politically) gave it their approval with near unanimous support from Democrats and Republicans alike. Pennsylvania is moving quickly towards approval, leaving Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan as the last three states.

So what is holding the compact up in these core Great Lakes states? In Wisconsin, the state senate passed the compact last month with the same bipartisan support seen in other states. But a few lawmakers in the state assembly are opposing the compact because they want to be allowed to divert Great Lakes water to parts of the state outside of the Great Lakes watershed without the approval of the other states that share the lakes. Current federal law requires the unanimous approval of all Great Lakes governors for a new diversion, so this would be a weakening of existing protections. Obviously Michigan and the other states would never agree to this, nor should they. It is understandable that Wisconsin water users don’t want to be subject to the political whims of politicians from other states. But the compact replaces the arbitrary political approval required under current federal law with a decision process that is based on standards, open to the public, and subject to judicial review. This is a better deal for Wisconsin, and its political leaders should take it.

The story is similar in Ohio. The Ohio state house passed the compact in February with leadership from Republicans and Democrats. But in the state senate, a handful of lawmakers led by state senator Tim Grendell have engaged an ideological battle against the compact. Senator Grendell claims that the compact infringes on property rights, incorrectly arguing that the compact makes groundwater a public trust resource. Senator Grendell is absolutely right that private landowners have a right to the reasonable use of groundwater below their land, just as in every other Great Lakes state. But Senator Grendell is absolutely wrong that the compact infringes on that right. In fact, the compact expressly states that it shall not be construed to affect, limit, diminish or impair any validly established water rights. Numerous legal experts have debunked Senator Grendell’s arguments, and it’s clear that his opposition is ideological and not based on legal reasoning. Now the question for the leadership in the Ohio Senate is whether they will let one ideologue stand in the way of broad regional consensus and common sense policy.

The situation in Michigan is far better. All of the state's political leaders and major interest groups support the compact. Bills to approve the compact have been introduced in both houses, with Republican state senator Patricia Birkholz and Democratic state representative Rebekah Warren leading the effort. The debate in the Michigan legislature is over the details of how to best implement the compact’s standards for water use within the state. Michigan has had a multi-year process to develop a better scientific tool to predict the environmental harm from proposed water withdrawals. Now the legislature is debating how strictly Michigan should regulate water use with the scientific tool, balancing the need for environmental protection with the regulatory costs of additional permitting and government oversight. With pragmatic legislative leadership and broad support from constituents, Michigan should resolve these issues fairly soon and approve the compact and state implementing legislation.

Once the political challenges in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Michigan are overcome, the compact must still be approved by Congress. The Great Lakes region has been steadily losing seats in Congress for the past few decades, and it is critical to get the compact approved before we lose more Congressional votes and clout. Congress has a long tradition of deferring to regional consensus and cooperation in approving water compacts. But with droughts and water shortages around the country, we can’t take Congressional approval for granted. The Great Lakes are our region’s greatest natural resource and economic advantage. We must protect the Great Lakes, but no state can do the job alone. It requires cooperation, compromise, and regional leadership. We have these skills and resources, and once we learn to work together to protect our water, we can build on that success and make the region as great as our lakes.