Congratulations to the Healing Our Waters Coalition for organizing a terrific Great Lakes Days event in Washington DC. Leaguers played an important part of this group of over 100 Lake lovers who convened in February to get updates on the successes of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, hear speakers, and participate in in-person meetings with elected representatives and staff on Capitol Hill.  One of our most effective handouts for making our case is a description of restoration successes from around the Great Lakes region, which can be accessed here .

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) is an inter-agency program designed to address the most significant problems in the Great Lakes and works to protect, restore and maintain the Great Lakes Ecosystem. It has traditionally enjoyed bi-partisan support. At our Congressional breakfast both Republicans and Democrats from both Houses addressed the group in support of our work.  Unfortunately, President Obama’s current budget requests only $250 million for FY 2017.  We were lobbying to have that amount restored to $300 million to maintain the current level of funding because, although GLRI is showing real and measurable results, there is still plenty of work to be done.  LWVLMR supports authorization and multi-year funding of $300 million per year for the GLRI and encourages you to contact your federal legislators in support of this position.

The visit was timely as there is heightened concern about drinking water across the states, due to the crisis in Flint, MI.  So in addition to the request for GLRI support, we were also asking for a boost to the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs that help local communities upgrade aging water infrastructure to protect drinking water, reduce sewer overflows, and prevent beach contamination.

Additionally, protection against Asian carp and other invasive species coming through the Chicago Area Waterways was sought, with emphasis on speeding up the Brandon Road Feasibility study by the Army Corps of Engineers. Brandon Road is the site of a Lock and Dam on the Illinois River and was identified as a possible choke point to stop the fish in a previous study which we lobbied for. 

All of our Great Lakes LWV states except Pennsylvania are members of the Healing Our Waters Coalition.  Their annual conference will be September 20-22, 2016 in Sandusky, OH this year and we encourage League members to attend.

On Thursday, February 18, 2016, the Carroll University Shattuck Music Center, Room 122, was filled with hundreds of people interested and concerned about the first Great Lakes water diversion application. Busloads of people arrived from all over Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and even New York. Most were eager to state why they did not want this diversion to happen.

We arrived early to sign up to speak and observe the area. The stage was filled with 12 chairs for the Governors and Premiers or their representatives. A microphone stood ready in the center floor walkway for public hearing presenters.

At 2 pm, officials from DNR and Waukesha were on stage with slide presentations. They also answered questions from the audience regarding the diversion, radium pollution and removal, wetlands, sewers, wells, conservation, alternate water sources, and more.

Promptly at 3 pm, the chairperson of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers explained the public hearing rules to the audience. No one could speak unless they had signed in, and then been called by the chairperson.

The organizers decided the order. First, all 20-30 officials from mayor, alderman, city planners, water and sewer planners and individuals of Waukesha appeared, the mayors of surrounding communities, and finally well know individuals from environmental organizations such as Elizabeth Wheeler, Todd Ambs, George Meyer of WI Wildlife Federation, Karen Hobbs of NRDC, ACLU and many more.

It was then 6 pm and supper break was announced. There were 75 presenters left and the Governors and Premiers stated they would stay "until they were done."  Many individuals left as the buses were leaving. We also left. Our statement had been received prior to the meeting by email, and we did not know if and when we would be called.

Interesting information from the presentations:

• Waukesha uses 6 million gallons of water daily and requested twice that amount, meaning they want to expand.
• A former DNR official, one who "worked on the original Compact," stated that when the DNR changed the Waukesha diversion wording to include the surrounding areas with private wells, it changed the Compact meaning. So it is not just the needed water for contaminated and drawn down city wells but includes the private contaminated wells in the enlarged surrounding area. New Berlin's mayor stated they only requested water for contaminated wells not the whole city. Brookfield removes radium from their wells as well as 50 Wisconsin communities.
• Reverse Osmosis (RO) is the best way to remove radium and pollutants from water in many communities, but removal strategies involving ion exchange are being researched.
• The Great Lakes Compact does not define "reasonable alternate source of potable water." Waukesha has defined reasonable alternate source in its application as "...alternate supply similar in cost to..."
• Race and poverty were noted as factors for wanting to expand away from Milwaukee. Waukesha is 86% white non-Hispanic.
• All measures for conservation from lawn watering to toilet changes are voluntary and not really being enforced. "It is technically ok to water your lawn as long as you wish if you are holding the hose in your hand," stated one Waukesha resident. Waukesha has increased conservation but about equal to the rest of the country.
• Corporate industry pays less for water and sewer the more they use, and homeowners pay more if they use more, not equal.
• Milwaukee's Mayor Barrett stated that Milwaukee was the original "suitor" for selling Lake Michigan water to Waukesha and could not or would not due to the proposed Waukesha extended area. Milwaukee is still willing to supply if the extended area is dropped from the proposal.

Waukesha is located in a county that straddles the Great Lakes basin, and it can request water, but only in extraordinary circumstances and as a last resort.  Studies have proven that Waukesha has another option for water that costs almost half as much as diverting water from Lake Michigan. Perhaps lake water to replace only contaminated and drawn down city wells needs to be supplied. If Waukesha's application were approved in its present state, it would set a terrible precedent for the entire Great Lakes region and weaken the Compact!

Reported by Marjorie Palleon, LWV of Ozaukee Area and LWVLMR Delegate

The 2008 Great Lakes Compact protects the water resources of the Great Lakes Basin from diversions and excessive withdrawals. Diversions away from the Great Lakes may be considered under the Compact, but only under strict conditions.

Waukesha, WI, is the first community to apply for a diversion. Some of its water comes from groundwater contaminated by radium and, in 2012, Waukesha began the process of requesting permission to remove water from Lake Michigan and send it to residents and businesses located out of the watershed.

A revised diversion application has been approved by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and now goes to the Regional Body and the Governor's Compact Council for review.  Interested individuals and organizations may submit comments through March 14, 2016.
 
A public hearing will be held on February 18, 2016, at Carroll University in Waukesha.

To read the application and learn about the review process, visit the Wisconsin DNR Waukesha Diversion webpage.

NATIVE PLANTS HELP CLEAN WATER, NATURALLY!

We are thrilled to have learned that we will be able to continue spreading that message with the aid of an Illinois Department of Natural Resources Coastal Management Mini-Grant! The grant will fund the development and production of outreach materials and one or more mobile workshops in summer of 2016.  We are extremely grateful for this opportunity!

Materials will be available for no cost to the local Leagues in the Illinois Coastal Zone, and to other LWVLMR member Leagues at cost.  We look forward to working again with local Leagues on this project.  More information about this project will be available early in 2016.

The LWVIL Education Fund will administer the grant.  This is the second coastal management grant LWVILEF and LWVLMR have received; the first funded the first phase of the Stormwater Education project through 2014.

Indiana Delegate and LWV LaPorte Area member Jeannette Neagu was announced as the winner of the 2015 Art Palleon Advocacy Award at the League of Women Voters Annual Meeting in Glenview, Illinois.  She was recognized for her decades of tireless work as an advocate for the environmental health and protection of Lake Michigan.
 
Jeanette’s stewardship of Lake Michigan began when she was a child growing up in Ogden Dunes where she attended her first League meeting with her mother. Eventually, Jeannette became a part of the Save the Dunes movement that began in the 1960's and her dedication to the area has never diminished.
 
Whether lobbying or testifying at hearings about policy matters related to Lake Michigan, writing, phoning, visiting elected officials in Michigan City, Indianapolis, and Washington, D.C., or traveling to the other Great Lakes states to give public presentations, Jeanette is action-oriented and tireless. She also works to educate community members by speaking on topics such as, “Introduction to Lake Michigan,” “Combined Sewer Overflows,” “Above-Ground Storage Tanks,” “Nutrient Impacts and Toxic Algae,” and more. Her eye-opening presentations have helped recruit many new members to LWV and to the cause of environmental stewardship.

Jeanette served for several terms as President of the League of Women Voters Lake Michigan Region and is currently League of Women Voters of Indiana’s Natural Resources chair.

The Art Palleon Advocacy Award was begun in memory of Wisconsin’s Art Palleon, a long-time member of the League of Women Voters Lake Michigan Region Board who always encouraged careful use of words and to take action when necessary.