GLIN==> Environmental-Conservation Groups Praise Legislation Aimed to Protect Lake Erie water supply

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For Immediate Release - June 14, 2011

Kristy Meyer, Ohio Environmental Council, (614) 487-5842 (work); (614) 638-8948 (cell)
John Stark, The Nature Conservancy, (614) 717-2770 ext 138
Rick Graham, Izaak Walton League of America, Buckeye All State Chapter, (419) 465-2283
Marc Smith, National Wildlife Federation, (734) 887-7116 (work); (734) 255-5413

Environmental-Conservation Groups Praise Legislation Aimed to Protect Lake Erie water supply

Legislation protects Lake Erie waters while balancing industry, agriculture, drinking water, recreational and tourism needs

Columbus, OH - Environmental-conservation groups, scientists and small business owners are praising the recent introduction of legislation at the Statehouse to fully implement the Great Lakes Compact-an eight-state binding agreement to manage the surface and ground waters that drain into the Great Lakes basin.

Under identical bills proposed by State Representative Dennis Murray (D-Sandusky) and Senator Mike Skindell (D-Lakewood), the rivers and ground water that feed Lake Erie will be protected by balancing the needs of intensive users, including manufacturers, farmers and bottlers with the needs of public drinking water systems, the travel and tourism industry and wildlife.

A pair of competing bills backed by heavy industry would set water withdrawal thresholds higher than any other Lake Erie state, violate the Compact by making water conservation measures voluntary rather than mandatory, leave approximately 80% of river miles unprotected, and only consider impacts to the Lake Erie basin as a whole-rather than individual watersheds.

The more protective Skindell-Murray legislation by contrast:

 *   Ensures that any program developed to manage water is based on sound science;
 *   Recognizes the waters of the Great Lakes basin as the Compact does - the Great Lakes themselves and all streams, rivers, lakes, connecting channels and other bodies of water that drain to the Great Lakes, including tributary groundwater;
 *   Ensures that any water withdrawals will be judged on how one or more withdrawals from a single watershed may individually or collectively impact the whole Lake Erie basin and the source watershed from which the withdrawal was made;
 *   Judge impacts on a particular stream segment by looking at a number of considerations, including economic development, social development and environmental protection needs; and
 *   Gives the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (DNR) tools to collect and analyze data using science-based processes to determine if a particular watershed is facing critical low water levels.  The bills further give DNR the tools necessary to mitigate against any further reduction of water supplies while ensuring access to the waters.

"These pieces of legislation provide the predictability that businesses are seeking when developing future projects, while protecting Ohio's $10 billion travel and tourism industry and the quarter-million jobs that rely upon it," said Kristy Meyer, Great Lakes Compact Advisory Board Member and Director of Agricultural & Clean Water Programs for the Ohio Environmental Council.  "Unlike the heavy industry-backed bills currently being heard by the legislature, the Murray-Skindell bills actually will ensure that this great resource is around for centuries to come for all water users' needs."

Lake Erie is the shallowest, warmest, and the southernmost Lake.  It also is the most biologically productive of all the Great Lakes, producing more fish for human consumption than all of the other Lakes combined.  It supports a $1 billion sport-fishing industry, more than $800 million generated in Ohio, which contributes to the more than $10 billion in revenue that the state receives yearly from tourism.  Lake Erie also supports more than a quarter of a million jobs in manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism.  One out of every ten jobs in the Ohio Lake Erie basin is supported by tourism.

In testimony last week before the Ohio House of Representatives, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, OSU Professor Jeff Reutter, Ph.D., Great Lakes Compact Advisory Board Member, and Executive Director of Ohio Sea Grant, stated that Ohioans and Ohio businesses benefit more from Lake Erie's amenities than any other state or province.

According to Reutter, a healthy Lake Erie means a healthy Ohio economy.  In his presentation he stated that he has seen walleye harvests in Ohio go from 112,000 in 1976 to 5 million by the late 1980's.  In addition, he has seen coastal marine and charter fleet businesses grow from 207 in 1977 to 425 today and from 34 in 1975 to about 800 today, respectively.

"The thresholds that Representative Murray and Senator Skindell call for in their legislation will ensure that my kids and eventually grandkids can fish in Lake Erie and it's tributaries as I have for nearly sixty years," said Rick Graham, Great Lakes Compact Advisory Board Member and President of the Izaak Walton League of America - Buckeye All State Chapter.   "Lake Erie has the shallowest waters and is most sensitive to excessive water withdrawals..  This coupled with the high withdrawal thresholds pushed by the industry bill could spell disaster for Lake Erie and my opportunity to take my family fishing."

The Murray-Skindell bills set thresholds for when a water user must get a permit for water withdrawals at 2.5 million gallons of water use per a day averaged over a 30-day period for Lake Erie and 500,000 gallons per a day averaged over a 30-day period for groundwater.  The bills further set a range of thresholds for rivers depending on each river's size and water quality status.  The river thresholds are based on more than 20 years of scientific data on the rates of flow of streams that feed Lake Erie.

A science-based tool developed by The Nature Conservancy in collaboration with the Midwest Biodiversity Institute would enable Ohio DNR officials to accurately determine appropriate water use thresholds based on the size and water quality of the stream, as well as the impact that a specific water withdrawal many have on a river or stream.  This tool helps water users avoid costs by directing them to appropriate withdrawal sites that can provide sustainable water supplies while avoiding withdrawals in streams that have an inadequate water supply.

The tool was designed using the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) flow data and more than 20 years of ecological data collected by the state, which links the amount of water withdrawn to a percentage of flow-sensitive fish and wildlife species that could be lost within a particular river watershed from depleted water flow.   The USGS in Ohio has received some funding to begin work to develop the groundwater component of this tool.

"Large industries have been asking for predictability.  We took their suggestions and built the Ohio Stream Withdraw Evaluation Tool," said John Stark, Freshwater Conservation Director for The Nature Conservancy.  "This tool provides the type of certainty they have been seeking and provides DNR with the objectivity and science they seek in implementing a program."

"Unfortunately, the Grendell and Wachtmann bills as introduced would leave Ohio vulnerable and at risk because it doesn't uphold the terms of the Great Lakes Compact," said Marc Smith, Senior Policy Manager for National Wildlife Federation.  "Representative Murray and Senator Skindell have introduced legislation that is good for Lake Erie, Ohio, and all of the businesses, people and wildlife that rely on Lake Erie."

By 2013 each state must develop and implement a water management program.  If by 2018 a program has not established thresholds for when a water user must seek a permit, then the threshold drops to 100,000 gallons per day averaged over a 90-day period.

-end-

The mission of the Ohio Environmental Council (OEC) is to secure healthy air, land, and water for all who call Ohio home.   The OEC is Ohio's leading advocate for fresh air, clean water, and sustainable land use.   The OEC has a 40-year history of innovation, pragmatism, and success.   Using legislative initiatives, legal action, scientific principles, and statewide partnerships, the OEC secures a healthier environment for Ohio's families and communities.  For more information, visit www.theOEC.org.


Kristy Meyer, M.S.
Director of Agricultural & Clean Water Programs
Ohio Environmental Council
1207 Grandview Ave., Ste. 201
Columbus, OH 43212
Direct Phone: (614) 487-5842
OEC Phone: (614) 487-7506
Kristy at theOEC.org
Twitter.com/AgWaterKristy<http://www.twitter.com/AgWaterKristy>

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