Managing the Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin

David Naftzger, Executive DirectorCouncil of Great Lakes Governors

(312) 407-0177www.cglg.org

Council of Great Lakes Governors

Nearly 20% of the world’s surface freshwater About 90% of US surface freshwater

Home to 35 million people 25 million US 10 million Canada

Major Urban Centers Ecological Treasure “Blue Water” Economy

North America’s “Waterbelt”

Council of Great Lakes Governors

Economy depends on the Lakes: Hydropower Cooling Drinking water Industrial uses Agriculture Tourism,

recreation and boating

Shipping Fish and wildlife

Great Lakes Water Use

CategoryPercentage of 2002 Withdrawals*

Fossil Fuel Power 36%

Nuclear 35%

Public Supply 14%

Industrial 10%

Other 3%

Domestic 1%

Irrigation 1%

*Excludes hydroelectricSource: Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Governors’ PrioritiesGreat Lakes Governors’ Priorities

Ensure the sustainable use of our water resources while confirming that the States retain authority over water use and diversions of Great Lakes waters.

Council of Great Lakes Governors

Good-faith agreement among the Great Lakes Governors and Premiers

Created Regional Body

State and Provincial implementation

Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement

of 2005

Council of Great Lakes Governors

Provincial action

Interstate Compact

Council of Great Lakes Governors

Legally enforceable contract among the Great Lakes States

Created Compact Council

Implementation

Ratification byState legislatures (2006-2008)

Congressional consent (2008)

Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact

Council of Great Lakes Governors

Next Steps

Regional water conservation and efficiency objectives established

Regional procedures and regulations being developed

State and Provincial programs being developed Water conservation and efficiency Water use information Water management and regulation

Cumulative impacts to be assessed

Council of Great Lakes Governors

Decision Support Needs

Improved water use information

Consumptive use coefficients

Better understanding of groundwater-surface water interaction

Gauging

Modeling

Council of Great Lakes Governors

Decision Support Needs

Tools to assess individual and cumulative impacts

Improved Basin water supply information and water budget

Impact assessment tools: Physical, biological, chemical

Monitoring, predictive and forecasting tools

Strengthening partnerships

Difficult to Compare Water Use by Sector across state lines due to different methods and data sets

Future Needs• Consumptive Use vs. Diversions• Improved groundwater information• Increased use of remote sensing to determine

water use• More consistency between states on how water

use data are collected/available• Support Sec. 9508 of SECURE Water Act

(P.L. 111-11) for state/federal partnership in water use data

• Improved long-term supply forecasting