Conservation is key to preventing water exports from the Great Lakes, IJC concludes Growing water shortages in the rest of the world are provoking concern by water-rich Canada and the United States that international trade agreements could transform the North American Great Lakes water into an exportable commodity that could drain the lakes dry. The International Joint Commission (IJC), an advisory body appointed by the United States and Canada, recently recommended a strategy that will allow the two countries to prevent bulk sales of water from the lakes without triggering the international trade rules that would rjrevent such bans An unsuccessful attempt by a Canadian company to export a tankerful of Lake Superior water to Asia in 1998 prompted the governments of Canada and the United States to ask the IJC for a report on how to prevent bulk exports, said Jeffrey Edstrom, senior policy director with the Council of Great Lakes Governors. Participants at the World Water Forum, a global meeting of water experts, held in March, supported water transfers between basins only if they do not damage the environment. To date attempts at bulk export have been made in three Canadian provinces and Alaska Released in March, the IJC report addresses concerns that growing water shortages worldwide could inspire entrepreneurs to sell water in bulk to make a profit. To prevent this from happening, "the report says you should set environmental standards that everyone has to meet, and that are so high that it will be impossible for large-scale diversions to meet the standards " said Michael Donahue executive director of the Great Lakes Commission a binational agencv For instance, the report stipulates that any removal must return at least 95% of the water withdrawn, and it should be returned in a condition that protects the quality of the Great Lakes. Bulk
water exports from the Great Lakes are undesirable because research shows that the lakes need every drop of water currently in the basin for ecosystem functioning, said Frank Quinn, senior research hydrologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. After the record highs recorded in 1986, the Great Lakes are experiencing their lowest levels since bottoming out in 1965, Quinn said. Lakes Michigan and Huron have dropped 3.3 feet in the past three years the largest drop in the past 140 years The outlook is for potential new lows to be set this fall and winter thanks to a persistent drought pattern said Quinn
There is a concern that [the U.S.] states and the province of Ontario won't adopt the IJC's recommendations. —Tim Eder, National Wildlife Federation But just how to protect the lakes from bulk water exports is a delicate legal matter. An outright ban could be challenged as an unfair trade practice under international agreements, said Donahue. On the other hand, the IJC says that water in its natural state is exempted from trade agreements. Because of the uncertainties over the way water is defined by trade agreements, the only way to protect water from bulk export is to amend the agreements, said Jamie Dunn, water campaigner for the Council of Canadians, a citizen activist group. The North American Free Trade Agreement considers water as a good and forbids bans on exports of goods; the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, however considers water to be a tradable commodity. Dunn praised
the IJC report for coming up with "a strategy to prevent exports that is both scientifically sound and legally defensible." The IJC wrote that, based on the precautionary principle, which advocates conservative actions in light of uncertain impacts, the governments of Canada and the United States should not approve any proposals for removal of water from the Great Lakes and should not permit any major new or increased consumption of water. The report advocates a comprehensive watershed-based approach to conservation planning, said Tony Clarke, IJC's senior environmental adviser. Recommended strategies include realcost pricing of water; pollution prevention techniques at industrial plants that draw from the lakes, such as closed cooling systems to prevent evaporation and reduce water usage; and repairing municipal drinking water and/or wastewater systems that have leakage rates as high as one-third due to old pipes said Donahue "Protecting and conserving water and restoring the Great Lakes ecosystem could be significantiy advanced if the IJC's recommendations are implemented," said Tim Eder, director of the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes office. But new laws and regulations must be drafted to implement the IJC's criteria, "and there is a concern that [the U.S.] states and the province of Ontario won't adopt mem," Eder said, because "they don't have a great environmental track record." The Council of Great Lakes Governors, along with the premiers—chief elected provincial officers—of Ontario and Quebec, are currently working on a new Great Lakes Charter, a nonbinding agreement to govern decision making concerning the waters, and a new comprehensive standard for water removals, said Edstrom. The IJC said in the report that it was giving the states and provinces two years to act before requesting federal intervention. JANET PELLEY
JUNE 1, 2000 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS » 2 4 9 A
