Great Lakes agreement saves valuable resource

By Arthur I. Cyr

The China Olympics and the classic film “Chinatown” may seem to have nothing in common beyond the name of a major nation, but there is an association with direct implications for the international community. Current congressional movement on the Great Lakes Compact is a catalyst that joins the two topics.

The movie, set in the 1930s, describes efforts of ruthless business interests in the person of John Huston to corner the water supply to Southern California. Private eye Jack Nicholson discovers and struggles to defeat the scheme. The conclusion is ambiguous, but implies the bad guys prevail.

The film was inspired in part by an early 20th century commercial cabal, which tried to get a stranglehold on Southern California water. That group failed, thanks to public opposition mobilized by the new Progressive political movement.

One consequence was dramatic decentralization of Southern California government. The City and County of Los Angeles are relatively weak entities because local communities decades ago were determined to maintain independence vital to their water security.

Senate committee

Fast-forward to 2008 and the Natural Resources Committee of the United States Senate, which has just held hearings on the proposed Great Lakes Compact. This legislation would establish firm regional control over water allocation from the Lakes.

The Great Lakes represent a fresh water resource of unequalled scale. At a time of growing demand for fresh water, not only in the Midwest of the United States but around the globe, they face rapidly increasing demand. Additionally, the Lakes have become plagued with fresh challenges, even as popular awareness and concern over environmental pollution grow.

Ocean-going vessels have introduced a wide range of exotic water life forms, some of which are a threat. For example, the quagga mussel and zebra mussel clog drainpipes and drastically alter the food chain, especially along shorelines. The Asian carp, a recent immigrant, is a voracious carnivore that can grow to enormous size, threatens other fish and animals, and has been known to attack humans.

At the intergovernmental level in the United States, steadily growing demand has led to much more intense wrestling among states and localities for water allocation. Thirsty states far removed from the Great Lakes aggressively seek pipeline access. Myriad private interests are also much more active in supplying increasingly global water markets.

The Great Lakes Compact is the result of intense, disciplined negotiations among the contiguous states. The agreement is not protectionist but rather provides mechanisms for orderly and equitable allocation of water while addressing growing environmental challenges.

In a very positive development, the House Committee on Natural Resources has just approved the Compact and sent the bill to the floor for a vote. The committee chair, Democratic Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, a Great Lakes state, has emphasized the responsibility of Congress to ensure responsible management of this enormous resource and describes the legislation as protecting the Lakes “for generations to come.”

Summer doldrums

While Congress has been reflecting summer doldrums in neglecting a range of other public policy matters, the Senate’s quick passage of the Compact legislation is encouraging. The strength of the national environmental movement is undeniable.

Once the Great Lakes Compact becomes national policy, a sensible next step would be engagement of other nations. China should be at the top of the list. China and the United States are principal polluters of the atmosphere, though the latter is achieving reduction of emissions. Water management is in some respects easier to achieve. Canada, directly involved in Great Lakes management, could play an important brokering role.

X Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College and author of “After the Cold War” (NYU Press and Palgrave/Macmillan).