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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2011 > June > 25 > Entry
Editorial: Great Lakes need Ohio to honor pact
It’s almost never good to have politicians mediating scientific debates. But, of course, it happens all the time — on matters from abortion to air pollution.
After heated debate this week, the Ohio House of Representatives passed legislation designed to implement the Great Lakes Compact. That agreement requires the eight Great Lakes states to adopt rules protecting the water and the lake ecosystems by 2014.
Next week the Ohio Senate is expected to pass similar legislation.
The vote in the House was 60-37, with one Democrat joining all the Republicans in support. Science — which is at the heart the controversy — shouldn’t be a partisan issue.
Former Republican Gov. Bob Taft, who helped negotiate the compact and is now at the University of Dayton, appeared before the legislature for the first time since he left office in 2007. He said the legislation is flawed because it would not require a review of the cumulative impacts of water being withdrawn from Lake Erie, or of withdrawals that could impact the chemical or biological integrity of the lakes.
The pact Ohio signed — with seven other states, Ontario and Quebec — requires that.
The National Wildlife Federation, another critic of the legislation, said that other states have imposed stricter regulations on water withdrawals than Ohio is considering. In addition, businesses could design their own water-conservation measures, though, under the compact, state government is supposed to be involved.
Specifically, the bill would require businesses to get a permit only if they tap more than 5 million gallons of water a day from Lake Erie, 2 million from rivers or groundwater supplies, or 300,000 a day from rivers deemed “high quality.” Right now, permits are not required.
Ohio draws 3.5 billion gallons a year from Lake Erie, mostly for power plants, industry and drinking water. Managing how that occurs is important because Lake Erie is the shallowest and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes. If too much water is withdrawn too fast or at the wrong time, water quality and aquatic life can be damaged quickly.
Sponsors of the legislation say they want to make the lake area attractive to businesses. With cheap, clean, fresh water increasingly hard to come by, Ohio is touting its water resources.
The history behind the compact is telling. Negotiations began after, in the late 1990s, a Canadian company tried to ship Lake Superior water to Asia. The firm wanted to take a public resource and treat it as its own — with government approval.
The public outcry was as much about how easily the permit was awarded as it was about the principle at stake. Among compelling points Gov. Taft made is that there is time to make sure the rules are right. Ohio has two-plus years to write its regulations. Adopting them quickly — and dismissing people who are steeped in the science of the matter — makes no sense.
This issue isn’t a trivial one: The Great Lakes hold 20 percent of the world’s fresh surface water — 95 percent of such water in the United States.
Moreover, if Ohio’s rules aren’t consistent with the compact — which the legislature passed and Congress ultimately approved — that fact will invite a lawsuit.
Other states aren’t going to let Ohio break its commitment while they’re making the sacrifices necessary to ensure that the lakes are productive for future generations.
Water doesn’t recognize governmental boundaries. The way to keep it clean and to make sure it’s there for everyone is to honor science.
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