From:                              mcwc-bounces@listserve.com on behalf of terry swier [tswier@centurytel.net]

Sent:                               Friday, September 12, 2008 9:32 PM

To:                                   MCWC Members

Subject:                          (MCWC).... Action Alert

 

Importance:                   High

 

 ACTION ALERT TO BE SENT NOW

 

The Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River Basin Compact, referred to as the Compact, is an agreement entered into by the 8 states and 2 Canadian provinces of the Great Lakes Basin which lays out guidelines for diversions from the Great Lakes, lakes and streams and groundwater in the Basin to protect the waters  from large scale diversion projects and  private expropriation.  The Compact has been passed in the US Senate and may pass the US House on Monday.  

 

US Rep Bart Stupak (D-Menominee)  understands the issue of the Compact and its loop holes and he is determined to see that the Compact is corrected or improved by:

 

The Compact, while good for its diversion ban, is not good with the "product' exception to diversion.  MCWC would like to see the Compact approval process slowed down in the US House so that the flaws are understood and corrected.

 

 

I am asking you to urge your US Reps to close the loopholes identified by Rep. Bart Stupak. Tell them that you support Rep. Bart Stupak’s concerns.

  1. Write letters, emails, and phone House members, especially, Nancy  Pelosi (House Speaker), James Oberstar (MN), John Conyers, and Peter Viscloskey (Indiana), demanding that the "product" exception or commodification of water as a product for sale be removed from the Compact, and that the 5.7 gallon limit be removed because it is no longer necessary, and it is up to the states and their citizens to decide whether water should be licensed for sale as a consumptive use consistent with the public trust in water.  Also, the message that water of the Basin is one hydrological unit, and therefore subject to the public trust doctrine
  2. Get in touch with your US Senators even though the Compact has passed in the Senate

 Go to this link for your U.S. Representative:
> https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml
>
> Email Rep. John Conyers though this website:
> http://www.house.gov/conyers/contact.shtml
>
> Say thank you to Rep. Bart Stupak through this website:
> http://www.house.gov/stupak/IMA/issue2.htm

Please send this alert to others.

 

Terry Swier
President Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation
tswier@centurytel.net
231-972-8856