In 2008, New York State signed on to the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, an eight-state agreement to manage Great Lakes water use.
In New York, a group called the Great Lakes Basin Advisory Council was charged with recommending ways to make the Compact work. The Council recently issued a draft report, but the report fails to make the strong, protective recommendations necessary to manage one of our most precious resources—the Great Lakes.
We need your help to get the Council to improve their report. Ask the Great Lakes Advisory Council to get back to work and protect the lakes. Act soon! The comment period closes on Friday, August 14.
As climate change and other threats to the Great Lakes ramp up, New York must sustainably manage the lakes so that future generations have access to clean, abundant drinking water.
To fully realize the promise of the Compact, New York needs to:
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Undertake a real inventory of current water withdrawals so we know how much water is coming out of the Great Lakes Basin;
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Create a permit system for facilities that withdraw more than 50,000 gallons of water per day;
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Create a registration system for facilities that withdraw more than 10,000 gallons of water per day; and
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Build conservation and efficiency practices into all water withdrawals.
Ask the Great Lakes Basin Advisory Council to get back to work and protect the lakes today.
