Ex-governor fights Great Lakes water-use bill

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, a key figure in negotiation of the Great Lakes Compact, made a rare legislative appearance Thursday to oppose a bill that lays out Ohio’s rules for using water from Lake Erie.

It was Taft’s first time testifying before state lawmakers since leaving office in January 2007.

As governor, he chaired the Council of Great Lakes Governors that hammered out the multistate compact aimed at protecting border states’ rights to the water in the lakes. He now sits on the board of the 40-year-old Alliance for the Great Lakes.

He said he took the unusual step of testifying out of concern that legislation establishing thresholds for removing water from Lake Erie and criteria for judging the impact of withdrawals would spark litigation against Ohio and other lake states for violations of the compact.

Taft, a Republican, urged the Senate Agriculture, Environment & Natural Resources Committee to slow down and consider what it’s doing.

He said the staff and experts at the alliance “have very serious concerns that the language under the bill does not support the compact.”