LANSING – Discussion on a proposed substitute to legislation that would enact portions of the Great Lakes Compact by setting the regulatory standards for allowing water withdrawals in the state began on Wednesday in the Senate Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee.
The committee did not act on SB 860 , though it may at its meeting next week.
The measure was hailed by committee chair Sen. Patricia Birkholz (R-Saugatuck) as providing protection from diversions for 75 percent of the water resources in the state, and creates new permitting requirements for large-scale diversions, including wells, that could draw off 2 million gallons of water a day or more.
The legislation is not perfect, Birkholz said, but the “very nature of water use makes it very challenging to satisfy everyone.”
The latest version of the bill emerged following a meeting between the different sides on the issue, a meeting that officials said brought the sides closer to agreement but not quite to full agreement.
Sen. Ray Basham (D-Taylor) praised the work done on the legislation and while final agreement between all parties could not be reached, at this point, the legislation would go a long way to providing protection for the public.
No one who testified on the legislation condemned or rejected it, though a number of environmental groups did say they still had issues with the proposal.
James Clift of the Michigan Environmental Coalition said that the prospect of allowing even 25 percent of water resources to be taken without review could be very harmful to the state’s wide range of coldwater streams and rivers that are an invaluable resource for anglers. Local community concerns and standards need to be considered when looking at potential diversions, he said, because water needs vary by community.
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