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The Great Lakes are an unparalleled natural wonder containing 20 percent of the world’s fresh surface water. From the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior to the beaches of Door County, to the ports on Lake Michigan, Wisconsin families flock to the Great Lakes for picnics, swimming, fishing, and boating, and to its surrounding lands to build their homes and grow their businesses. Many Wisconsin communities rely on the Great Lakes for clean drinking water and our state benefits tremendously from the $15 billion economy generated through shipping, manufacturing, tourism and agriculture.
Unfortunately, the Great Lakes face great peril. Powerful developers and industries want unregulated access to Great Lakes water, threatening to divert the Great Lakes for runaway development outside of Wisconsin and to privatize it as a commodity. Only 1 percent of Great Lakes water is renewed each year by rainfall, snowmelt, and groundwater. So it is vital we have proper planning and conservation measures in place to preserve the Great Lakes for future generations.
To address these problems and conserve the Great Lakes for future generations, Gov. Doyle joined seven other governors and two Canadian premiers in signing the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Compact and Agreement. Now our state Legislature needs to follow Gov. Doyle’s lead by endorsing the Great Lakes Compact while strengthening provisions to keep the Great Lakes great. |
