Gov. Granholm, joined by PIRGIM (U.S. PIRG's Michigan chapter)and other members of Michigan’s
environmental community, signed a landmark package of water-use bills
today, bringing long overdue protections to Michigan’s waters.
“From
now on, anyone with a pipe and a pump can’t just help themselves to our
most precious public resource,” said PIRGIM Advocate Kelly Dardzinski.
“For the first time, we have a set of laws in place to protect our
water from exploitation. We thank the Governor and legislators like
Representative Jack Brandenburg and Senator Patty Birkholz who came
together to make this happen, for all of us and for future
generations.”
Throughout
the campaign, PIRGIM talked with over 54,000 Michiganders, delivered
nearly 9,000 postcards to legislators, held over 100 meetings with
legislators, and collaborated with more than fifty business,
environmental, and religious organizations to advocate for strong
legislation. In addition, PIRGIM wrote and distributed the report “Left
Out to Dry,” a case study of how Michigan’s lax water use laws harmed
citizens and natural resources.
“Water
use in Michigan was a free-for-all, and citizens and our natural
resources were paying the price,” said Dardzinski. “These laws contain
common-sense standards to prevent overuse and abuse of Michigan’s water
and the Great Lakes.”
The final bill package includes significant protections, such as:
• An immediate prohibition against new large-scale water withdrawals
that cause adverse resource impacts to trout streams. This prohibition
will expand to protect all Michigan’s waters in two years.
• A permit requirement for new large-scale water withdrawals.
• An additional, more stringent permit requirement for new large
water-bottling projects, including a requirement that the projects
include plans to remedy any measurable impacts.
• A legislative approval requirement for water diversion projects if the current Michigan law against diversions is overturned.
• A requirement that each sector of industry develop water conservation standards.
Although
the legislation exempts water in containers smaller than 5.7 gallons
from being considered a diversion and thus subject to legislative
approval, the resource-protection and public input requirements imposed
on new large water-bottling facilities are believed to be the toughest
of their kind in the nation. While PIRGIM believes that any water
leaving the Great Lakes basin should receive legislative approval,
these laws will provide real, immediate protections for vulnerable
inland waterways by requiring new water bottling companies to meet
stronger protection standards and receive more public input than any
other user.
“Thanks
to this legislation, special interests will no longer be able to treat
Michigan’s water as their own private wells, and Michigan’s residents
and resources will no longer have to foot the bill for irresponsible
water use,” concluded Dardzinski. “It is truly a historic moment for
Michigan.”
As the new home of PIRGIM's environmental work,
Environment Michigan can be contacted with any questions regarding this news release.
