The MN State Senate could take up the compact as early as Monday. Here are the facts:
Keeping Decisions about the Great Lakes Closer to Home:
Why SF 38 Makes Sense for Minnesota
SF 38 (sponsored by Sen. Ann
Rest) ratifies the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact
agreed to by the eight Great Lakes States in December 2005. This legislation is
an insurance policy designed to prevent water grabs by other regions or Washington, D.C., and to promote conservation of the source of 18% of the world's surface fresh water.
What does the compact do?
The compact, once ratified by
the legislatures of the eight Great Lakes states and Congress, provides for coordinated and consultative decision-making
by the states themselves on large-scale water uses.
Why is the compact needed?
A proposal to build a coal
slurry pipeline from Duluth to the West in the 1980s and a proposal by a
Canadian company in 1998 to ship 50 tankers of water to Asia revealed
weaknesses in the region’s defense against large-scale diversions and exports.
Current state and federal law does not set the conservation standards that
some legal experts believe are needed to defend the Great Lakes.
What are specific features of the compact?
The compact bans new
or increased diversions of Great Lakes water, provides for limited
exceptions to the ban for communities close to the Great Lakes Basin divide
(like Hibbing), and promotes the adoption by each state of water withdrawal and
conservation legislation.
Will SF 38 impose burdensome new requirements on
Minnesotans?
No. Minnesota has had water withdrawal laws
affecting industry, municipalities and other users like those required by the
compact for years. According to the Minnesota DNR, the state already
complies with all of the regulatory requirements of the compact. The other
seven Great Lakes states will be required to come closer to the Minnesota standard.
Will SF 38 interfere with private property rights?
No. All private property
rights related to use of water are unaffected. Minnesota
retains final decision-making authority over all new or proposed consumptive uses.
The compact only requires that it seek comment from other states on proposed
new consumptive uses of 5 million gallons a day or more – approximately enough
to supply a city of 50,000 or more. Even for such uses Minnesota is the final and sole decision-maker.
Why does SF 38 make sense for Minnesota?
Because Lake Superior, a Minnesota asset and 10%
of the world’s surface fresh water, will be better protected. Because SF 38 increases
the chances of keeping the from
being drained or exported. Because it keeps decision-making about major Great
Lakes water uses within the
region. Because it helps continue Minnesota's tradition of stewardship of water resources.
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