Citizen Environmental Monitoring Conference

October 24-25
Registration Deadline Oct 17
Register online: http://cbm.wiatri.net/index.cfm

Wisconsin Lakes Convention
KI Convention Center, Green Bay
March 18-20, 2009

On September 23^rd the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve the Great Lakes Compact by a 390 to 25 vote. The U.S. Senate approved the Compact on August 8. President Bush has indicated he intends to sign the Compact bill. Seven years in the making, the Compact will be one of the largest interstate water agreements in the country.

The Great Lakes Compact is a regional agreement between the eight Great Lakes states and two Canadian Provinces that aims to establish a legal framework to prevent large scale diversions of Great Lakes’ water out of the region, sets a standard for states to review proposed uses of Great Lakes water, and sets parameters withdrawal of Great Lakes water by communities within the Great Lakes basin. The Compact also requires Great Lakes states to develop and implement a water conservation and efficiency program.

Passing the Compact has taken on a heightened sense of urgency in light of prolonged droughts, mounting evidence of climate change and, closer to home, declining Great lake levels. States in the South and West stressed by years of straining their own water resources and prolonged drought have prompted renewed talks of water diversions to make up for their depleted water resources—and many are eying taking large portions of water from the Great Lakes as a solution for western water woes. 

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A provision of the Great Lakes Compact allows water to be diverted from the basin if it is in containers holding less than 5.7 gallons, which would include bottled water sold everywhere from supermarkets to convenience stores that is popular with many American consumers.  Among those who have been working to pass the Great Lakes Compact—which prevents large scale diversion of Great Lakes water—this bottled water loophole has prompted concern that, despite the Compact, bottled water companies will package Great Lakes water and send it away one bottle at a time.

Pumping and bottling water from the aquifers that feed the Great Lakes and then shipping that water away, means that water will not be returned into the Great Lakes, resulting in a deficit in the lakes water budget. The philosophical question is whether bottling a natural resource into disposable plastic containers should be considered ordinary human consumption, commercial production, or export of a treasured natural resource.

The root question is how do you define a product? The bottled water industry points out that it is one of many commercial sectors that use and export water, including companies that make soda or beer, and feels it is being unfairly singled out. But opponents argue that soda and beer use the water to make a different product, whereas they view the bottled water company as taking a public good (water), paying very little for it, and making a profit on it.

Opponents of the bottled water loophole fear that since the compact officially treats water as a "product," the door could be opened to further commercialization and sale of Great Lakes water. Ironically, in 1998 such fears prompted the process that ultimately resulted in the Great Lakes Compact. In that case, a tiny company, Nova Group, obtained a permit from the Ontario government -- later withdrawn -- to ship up to 158 million gallons of Great Lakes water per year to Asia.

How we decide when water is a product ultimately determines if the state has the authority to regulate its export. International trade laws cannot force a state to extract its natural resources (including water), but once that water is bottled and becomes a “product,” trade agreements would prevent a ban on exports. If Great Lakes water is commercialized, then water itself becomes a product and its export cannot be banned.

Wisconsin Lakes Convention: Call for Posters!

Deadline for submissions: December 1, 2008

31^st Annual Wisconsin Lakes Convention:
Back to Balance: Aquatic Invasive Species Symposium

March 18^th -20^th, 2009

In response to popular request, the 31^st Annual Wisconsin Lakes Convention will highlight the important issue of aquatic invasive species. This event will pull together local, state, national, and global experts to discuss all aspects of aquatic invasive species (AIS) issues. The convention will include exceptional plenary speakers, workshops, concurrent sessions, and poster presentations.

An important element of this symposium will be a poster session highlighting noteworthy projects and research. Posters will provide an educational opportunity for the people of Wisconsin and surrounding states, as well as the researchers, educators and managers of the Great Lakes states. We invite you to participate in this exciting forum.

The poster session will be held during the Convention on Thursday March 19^th,  2009 from 12:30 pm to 2pm.

• Management / control strategies for specific species
• Research findings
• Success stories / case studies
• County / local coordination strategies

You may submit your abstract (maximum 250 words) online by completing the form at this link https://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/uwexlakes/conventions/2009Call/Call09P.htm

The Wisconsin Lakes Convention does not endorse specific products or services. Therefore, posters presented by individuals representing corporations or projects conducted by corporations should avoid the use of trade or brand names and refer to the products or services by a generic descriptor.

Federal rules aim to contain VHS

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued rules for shipping live fish across state lines that aim to contain VHS—an exotic fish-killing virus in the Great Lakes.

The rules require testing and inspections of 28 farm-raised and live bait species identified as susceptible to viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS). Among fish covered by the rules are brown and rainbow trout, chinook salmon, walleye, yellow perch, lake whitefish and muskellunge, and bait species such as emerald and spottail shiners.

VHS was first detected in Wisconsin in the inland Lake Winnebago system waters in May 2007 and in Lake Michigan system waters in June 2007. The discovery of VHS in inland waters prompted the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to institute emergency administrative rules to prevent the potential spread of the disease. The rules became permanent in April 2008, and require boaters, anglers, people who harvest wild bait, and the public to take preventative measures, such as draining water from and washing boats and equipment, disposal of leftover bait in the trash, and not moving live fish between waterbodies.

Help support clean, safe, healthy lakes for everyone