GLIN==> July 29 Workshop to Encourage Public Input to Proposed G.L. Water Management Agreements (interactive videoconference)

["List Manager" <adminpst@great-lakes.net>]

Submitted by Barb Lehman <lehmanb@msu.edu>



---

7/27/05





Contact:  Francie Todd



JULY 29 WORKSHOP TO ENCOURAGE PUBLIC INPUT  TO
PROPOSED GREAT LAKES WATER MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS



           East Lansing, Mich. -- Once the fourth largest inland sea in the 
world, the Aral Sea, in Central Asia, has lost 80 percent of its volume 
since the 1960s due to water lost to upstream irrigation; the sea level has 
dropped more than 14 meters, leaving more than 38,000 km2 of former sea 
bottom as dry surface (an area more than twice the size of Lake Ontario). 
This cautionary tale is not lost on those who seek to protect the waters of 
the Great Lakes.

           "The Great Lakes contain 20 percent of the Earth's fresh water, 
which is a huge global resource. We need to be careful what happens to it," 
said Tracy Dobson, a professor in the Michigan State University Department 
of Fisheries and Wildlife, and a co-convener of a regional workshop to 
facilitate public discussion regarding proposed international agreements 
affecting the Great Lakes Basin.

           The free public workshop will be held concurrently on the 
campuses of Michigan State University (MSU) and the University of Toronto (U 
of T), July 29, 2005, from 9:30 a.m. to

2:45 p.m. EDT. Four additional venues will participate via teleconference 
from Buffalo State University, New York; Québec; the University of 
Wisconsin; and the University of Illinois at Chicago. The East Lansing 
session of the workshop will be held in Room 145 Communication Arts and 
Sciences Building, on the MSU campus.

           Revised Annex Agreements and the Future of the Great Lakes Basin 
is an interactive live video conference designed to provide an exchange of 
information on the revised drafts of the Great Lakes Annex 2001 Implementing 
Agreements -- proposed agreements that would govern the way the Great Lakes 
and the waters of the Great Lakes Basin are managed and protected. Workshop 
panelists, comprised of academic, legal and water resource experts; 
environmental and industry advocates; and a representative of the Union of 
Ontario Indians and the Council of Great Lakes Governors, will present their 
viewpoints in the Toronto and East Lansing sessions. They will take 
questions from attendees at the host sites and linked locations.

           Leaders of the two Canadian provinces and eight states that 
surround the Great Lakes -- Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New 
York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ontario and Quebec -- have been working 
since 2001 to establish binding agreements that would strengthen the 
existing Great Lakes Charter. A first draft of this far-reaching interstate 
and international agreement, which has become known as the Great Lakes 
Charter Annex, was released for public consultation last summer.  The second 
set of draft agreements has been changed extensively as a result of public 
input received last year. These Revised Annex Agreements were released June 
30, for a 60-day public review period that ends August 29.  The regional 
Revised Annex Agreements workshop will provide one of the few opportunities 
for interactive public comment and dialogue on the revised drafts during the 
public comment period.

           "The comment period is just 60 days long," Professor Dobson 
noted. "This is an opportunity for the public to participate in the 
decision-making process, to ensure that our government hears multiple 
viewpoints, and not just special interests. We want to engage the public and 
have those affected provide and reflect the views of their communities."

                                                                       (more)





Page Three -- Great Lakes 
Communication and Technology Services



           The workshop is free and the public is encouraged to attend, 
however registration is required by e-mailing one of the event organizers. 
Lunch will be provided for registered attendees. The MSU Department of 
Fisheries and Wildlife and the U of T Munk Centre for International Studies 
are hosting the workshop, with additional support from the MSU Canadian 
Studies Center and the MSU Center for Water Resources.

           Information about the conference, as well as downloadable copies 
of the Annex Agreements and A Great Lakes Citizen's Primer on the Annex 
Agreements are available online at www.powi.ca.  To register for the MSU 
session, contact Erin Dreelin via e-mail at dreelin@msu.edu or call

(517) 432-8185; for the Toronto session, e-mail 
registration.munk@utoronto.ca or call (416) 946-8901.

           Implementation of the Revised Annex Agreements will have 
significant implications for the Great Lakes, their tributaries, and 
groundwater for the next century and beyond. The public comment period is an 
important opportunity for interested constituencies, organizations and 
individuals to promptly analyze the new texts, share information and reach 
conclusions about these new agreements.

                                                                       #ft#

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