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Protect Lake Erie - our GREAT Lake

Lake Erie is a priceless resource.

It's a source of drinking water and jobs, and a place where memories are made. Lake Erie also is part of the largest reservoir of fresh surface water on planet Earth. And it's right here, on Ohio's North Coast.

Vast, but vulnerable

But Lake Erie and the Great Lakes are under threat.

Thirsty, Southwest states covet our water. Some private industries don't want any controls on water use inside the Great Lakes basin.

Now is the time to act

Don't let anyone get away with privatizing Great Lakes water.

Tell your State Senator in Columbus to protect precious Lake Erie water. Tell them to join the Ohio House of Representatives and pass the Great Lakes Water Compact without any changes.

Don't delay. Do it today.

Talking Points

Read the OEC's Green Paper on Ohio House Bill 416.

Read the OEC's Fact Sheet on the Great Lakes Compact.

Subject:

Dear [ Decision Maker ],

(Edit Letter Below)

My family and I want you to protect Lake Erie water from being exported out of state and from wasteful use here at home. Please pass the Great Lakes Water Compact without any changes.

The Great Lakes are a vast resource, but scientists estimate that rainfall and snowmelt replenish only about one percent of the water in the Great Lakes Basin.  The other 99 percent is finite and nonrenewable.  The shallowest of the Lakes, Lake Erie depends upon the upper Great Lakes (Huron, Michigan and Superior) for 80% of its water supply.

As such, a scheme to export water outside the Great Lakes Basin or a proposal to withdraw a massive amount of water from within the Basin could be especially harmful to Lake Erie.

Legal scholars warn that the Federal Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) may not be sufficient to protect Great Lakes Basin water from new out-of-Basin diversions nor from in-Basin overuse.  The Compact, meanwhile, strikes a fair balance between the economic benefits of commercial use of water and the need for sustainable water use.

This historic proposal is the product of nearly five years of open and transparent negotiation among diverse stakeholders - negotiations premised on intertwined economic and environmental considerations.  The Compact truly represents compromise at its best - compromise for the better good so that all may continue to use and enjoy our Great Lake Erie.

As you may know, some lawmakers are afraid that the Compact will interfere with the right of private property owners to the use of ponds and well water.  They point to the Findings and Purposes section of the Compact as approved by four other Great Lakes States, which states, "The Waters of the Basin are precious public natural resources shared and held in trust by the States."

This portion of the Compact does not put pond and well water off limits to private property owners.  Ohio common law guarantees property owners access to that water, and the Compact expressly states that it shall not be construed to affect or interfere with common law water rights already established by each state.

This interpretation is shared by legal experts at the Ohio DNR, the Council of State Governments, and the Council of Great Lakes Governors

Given Ohio's heavy reliance on Lake Erie for industry, drinking water, and recreation, and given the fact that scientists estimate that the upper Great Lakes send Lake Erie 80 percent of its water, we may have more at stake than any other state over how the entire Great Lakes Basin's water supply is managed.  But if Ohio goes against the grain and amends the Compact, the states of Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York along with the Wisconsin Senate and the Pennsylvania House will have to reverse themselves and also vote to change the Compact.  This is not likely, nor, according to respected legal experts, is it necessary.

Please vote to approve the Great Lakes Water Compact - without amendment - as have more than 1,000 other state lawmakers across the Great Lakes, including (by a 90-3 margin) the Ohio House of Representatives.

Thank you, and I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]