Agreement would ban Great Lakes diversions but permit large withdrawals

[CHIMO]

Agreement would ban Great Lakes diversions but permit large withdrawals

OTTAWA (CP) - A draft deal among Great Lakes states and provinces would ban large-scale diversions from the lakes but permit withdrawals by the bottled-water industry and for other purposes.

The complex deal would allow for projects that withdraw up to 19 million litres of water a day, at the discretion of the jurisdiction.

The deal, released Wednesday, would also allow the export of water in containers of up 25.9 litres (5.7 gallons), which critics say clears the way for major water exports in the form of bottled water.

The agreement must still be passed by legislatures in the eight states and provinces.

http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/politics/news/shownews.jsp?content=n112373A

<23-Nov-05> New Agreement Will Weaken Canadian Control and Protection of Great Lakes
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 23, 2005

A final agreement on stewardship of the Great Lakes scheduled to be signed by Ontario, Quebec and eight U.S. states next month will severely weaken Canadian sovereignty over the Great Lakes, says the Council of Canadians. While some environmental groups have endorsed the deal known as the Great Lakes Annex, the Council believes it sets a dangerous precedent that will restrict Canada’s ability to protect the world’s largest body of fresh water from diversions and commercialization in the future.

“Protection of the Great Lakes is and should remain a bi-national responsibility regulated by the International Joint Commission (IJC), in which Canada and the U.S. are equally represented,” says Susan Howatt, national water campaigner for the Council of Canadians. “This deal bypasses that arrangement entirely.”

“Worse,” adds Howatt, “the current deal claims to protect the Great Lakes from the threats and impacts of diversions while openly allowing large withdrawals to continue and increase through the much-criticized Chicago diversion and by extending water access to U.S. communities that straddle the Great Lakes basin.” Illinois has already expressed its desire to increase the Chicago diversion within the next few years.

Moreover, says the Council, the current deal would increase, not lessen, the threat of an eventual trade challenge under NAFTA as water becomes available to corporate investors within straddling counties.

http://www.canadians.org/display_document.htm?COC_token=23@@a4b42bd56c343de3fce29b95fa268ea3&id=1290&isdoc=1&catid=68

Not much left but air.