ADOPTED - JUNE 22, 2004

Agenda Item No. 13



Introduced by the County Services Committee of the:



INGHAM COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS



RESOLUTION REGARDING GREAT LAKES WATER

WITHDRAWALS AND EXPORTS



RESOLUTION #04-189



WHEREAS, Ingham County, Michigan is at the center of the Great Lakes ecosystem, which contains 18% of the world's surface freshwater, a resource that supplies both aesthetic and economic value to our state and region; and



WHEREAS, Ingham County fosters water resource protection through the watershed management and wellhead protection programs conducted by the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission of which it is a member. In addition, drinking water and wastewater programs of the Ingham County Environmental Health Department are designed and operated for protecting local aquifers. Other county programs, assist in protecting water resources in a variety of ways.



WHEREAS, Ingham County recognizes that at all governmental levels, and in both the public and private sectors, water resource protection must be as comprehensive as possible. As knowledge about water resources increases and technology improves, both Ingham County and the State of Michigan must take advantage of these advances and adjust laws and programs to provide improved, appropriate protection of the waters of the state.



WHEREAS, Michigan has the most to gain or lose from policies that either prudently protect or unwisely sacrifice our freshwater resources; and



WHEREAS, one of the great risks posed to Michigan's future is the threat of bulk export of Great Lakes water, which could devastate ecosystems, significantly impair the state's manufacturing economy, undermine tourism, and cause significant new taxpayer costs for dredging and shoreline relief; and



WHEREAS, in the Great Lakes Charter of 1985, the great lakes states committed to enact legislation requiring the registration of all water withdrawals of more than 100,000 gallons per day and the regulation of all water withdrawals of more than 2 million gallons per day; and



WHEREAS, Michigan is one of the few Great Lakes states that lacks adequate statutory controls on the amount of water that any entity can withdraw from groundwater or surface water, regardless of the environmental or economic impact of such withdrawals; and



WHEREAS, unregulated groundwater pumping for bottled water, agricultural irrigation and various other uses have raised concerns regarding possible negative effects on habitat, wildlife health and stream flow; and



WHEREAS, Governor Granholm has urged the Michigan Legislature to enact the Water Legacy Act to begin setting a legal framework for the withdrawal of water from Michigan; and



WHEREAS, the Council of Great Lakes governors, working with the premiers of Ontario and Quebec in the annex 2001 process, are developing a resource-based standard for water withdrawal based on the principles of preventing





ADOPTED - JUNE 22, 2004

Agenda Item No. 13



RESOLUTION #04-189



water loss, no significant adverse impacts and improvement to the waters and water dependent natural resources of the basin; and



THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Ingham County Board of Commissioners supports efforts to halt the practice of bulk water removal from our Great Lakes.



BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Ingham County Board of Commissioners urges the Michigan Legislature to enact conservation-based statutory controls on the withdrawal of water, Michigan's most precious resource, in order to strengthen our defense against water exports.



BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Board of Commissioners calls on all corporations operating in Michigan voluntarily to refrain from exploiting new water sources for out-of-state and out-of-Great Lakes Basin export for bottling or other purposes until such statutory controls are enacted.



BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Board of Commissioners urges companies doing business in Michigan to practice corporate responsibility in its protection of the environment.



COUNTY SERVICES: Yeas: Swope, Thomas, De Leon, Hertel

Nays: None Absent: Nevin, Severino Approved 6/15/04