By Thea Hassan:
The recent Ohio legislation which would have allowed massive water withdrawals from Lake Erie was vetoed last Friday, July 15, by Ohio Governor John Kasich, in response to the myriad of out criers, including many Western New Yorkers.
The proposal, passed by the Ohio Legislature in late June, would have allowed businesses to pump up to 5 million gallons of water per day from Lake Erie without regulation. The bill was meant to attract businesses to Ohio, according to the Buffalo News.
Many, many people expressed their opposition to the bill, including Western New York Congressman Brian Higgins. Speaking to Congress about the issue last Thursday, he urged maintained vigilance towards restoring and conserving the Great Lakes, calling the water body "one of most over-looked and under-appreciated assets." Part of this vigilance includes calling for Ohio Gov. John Kasich to veto the proposed law.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo was also among the out criers, urging Gov. Kasich to veto the law.
A shrunken Lake Erie would harm the habitat of sport fish and other species, threaten hydropower plants on the Niagara River, increase presence of algal blooms, and decrease recreational activities, according to the Buffalo News.
"In my community of Western New York, this action would threaten the progress we are making in Buffalo toward reclaiming the waterfront as an engine of recreational and economic opportunity," said Higgins (Watch Higgins speak to Congress). Buffalo could see economic gains between $600 million to $1.1 billion if the Great Lakes are restored, according to a report from the Brookings Institute, a non-profit public policy organization.
Higgins also noted the proposed law would have been a violation of the Great Lakes Water Resources Compact, signed into law in 2008 by President Bush.
The Compact "seeks to ban the diversion of Great Lakes water, with some limited exceptions, and set responsible standards for water use and conservation within the basin," according to the Alliance for the Great Lakes website. The compact was between the 8 Great Lakes states and 2 Canadian provinces.
"The under lying goal was to prevent any one state from plundering the freshwater in the Great Lakes," Higgins summarized.
Lake Erie is safe, for now.
Photo: Emerald Beach at Erie Basin Marina
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The recent Ohio legislation which would have allowed massive water withdrawals from Lake Erie was vetoed last Friday, July 15, by Ohio Governor John Kasich, in response to the myriad of out criers, including many Western New Yorkers.
The proposal, passed by the Ohio Legislature in late June, would have allowed businesses to pump up to 5 million gallons of water per day from Lake Erie without regulation. The bill was meant to attract businesses to Ohio, according to the Buffalo News.
Many, many people expressed their opposition to the bill, including Western New York Congressman Brian Higgins. Speaking to Congress about the issue last Thursday, he urged maintained vigilance towards restoring and conserving the Great Lakes, calling the water body "one of most over-looked and under-appreciated assets." Part of this vigilance includes calling for Ohio Gov. John Kasich to veto the proposed law.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo was also among the out criers, urging Gov. Kasich to veto the law.
A shrunken Lake Erie would harm the habitat of sport fish and other species, threaten hydropower plants on the Niagara River, increase presence of algal blooms, and decrease recreational activities, according to the Buffalo News.
"In my community of Western New York, this action would threaten the progress we are making in Buffalo toward reclaiming the waterfront as an engine of recreational and economic opportunity," said Higgins (Watch Higgins speak to Congress). Buffalo could see economic gains between $600 million to $1.1 billion if the Great Lakes are restored, according to a report from the Brookings Institute, a non-profit public policy organization.
Higgins also noted the proposed law would have been a violation of the Great Lakes Water Resources Compact, signed into law in 2008 by President Bush.
The Compact "seeks to ban the diversion of Great Lakes water, with some limited exceptions, and set responsible standards for water use and conservation within the basin," according to the Alliance for the Great Lakes website. The compact was between the 8 Great Lakes states and 2 Canadian provinces.
"The under lying goal was to prevent any one state from plundering the freshwater in the Great Lakes," Higgins summarized.
Lake Erie is safe, for now.
Photo: Emerald Beach at Erie Basin Marina
You can bet this won't be the end of the attempt to plunder the Great Lakes. Fresh water is becoming more valuable. Now that corporations are people too, they'll keep coming back on this one.
Corporations have been citizens since the Santa Clara decision of the 1880's. Our republic has been dieing ever since.
I'd be worried about the increasingly parched parts of the West and Southwest as a threat to Great Lakes water. If drought conditions like the one this summer continue, people there are going to have to decide to either move to where water is available, or demand more water from elsewhere be diverted to them.
Given the increasing political power of these regions, diversion of our water is a real threat.