Michigan pipeline, S. Ontario sprawl cited as threats to Lake Huron water

[Spiel]

Michigan pipeline, S. Ontario sprawl cited as threats to Lake Huron water

 

 

Sept. 9, 2009

Jim Moodie / www.manitoulin.ca

 

 

LAKE HURON - Between a recently approved pipeline to Flint, Michigan and the spectre of southern Ontario growth zones tapping into a Collingwood-Alliston line that draws from Georgian Bay, stewards of Lake Huron have plenty to be concerned about these days.

 

On August 31, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality approved a plan to flow 322 million litres of water per day to Genesee County, which includes the city of Flint, via a new pipeline that will be built between Lake Huron and this landlocked corner of the Wolverine State.

 

Meanwhile, the extension of a sewage pipe north of Toronto through the York Region, along with development plans for the Simcoe area, are causing alarm that urban sprawl will edge closer to Georgian Bay and result in a cross-watershed take of H20.

 

Mary Muter, Georgian Baykeeper through the Waterkeeper Alliance and a member of the cottager-based charity Georgian Bay Forever (GBF), has both developments on her radar, and neither one strikes her as boding well for the continent's second-largest lake.

 

In July, she communicated her concerns regarding the Michigan pipeline to state authorities, arguing that Genesee County's proposal for a new withdrawal from Huron "demonstrates a clear lack of respect for the mainly finite resource that is available in our Great Lakes."

 

Genesee County is already getting water from Lake Huron through an infamously leaky line maintained by Detroit, she noted, and that porous infrastructure-estimated to lose 20 percent of the water it pumps-should be patched up before any new pipeline is given a green light.

 

Furthermore, the proposal "fails to respect the spirit of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement signed in December 2005 by the eight Great Lakes states and Ontario and Quebec," she contended. This agreement, referred to more commonly as the Great Lakes Compact, is legally binding among the US states and places a cap on most diversions, as well as sets new standards for water conservation and environmental protection.

 

"We submitted our comments," she told the Expositor, "and basically got a response saying: 'Sorry, we're going ahead.'"

 

Genesee officials, who hope to begin construction of the $600-million pipeline this coming year, argue there will be no net loss to Lake Huron since the county was already drawing from this source via Detroit. Moreover, the withdrawal won't move water out of the Great Lakes basin; anything used will eventually flow back into the same system, they say.

 

Critics like Ms. Muter are far from reassured by such points, particularly since there is no guarantee that Detroit would cut back its usage in proportion to the amount of water Genesee will be getting through its alternative conduit. "If Michigan was sincere about adhering to the intent of the compact, they should be asking Detroit to reduce its withdrawal equal to the amount that Genesee is proposing to take," she said.

 

As well, she's alarmed that the Genesee plan overlooks the conservation measures stipulated in the Great Lakes agreement, which calls on jurisdictions to reduce water consumption by 10 percent. "Their permit is for double what the population and projected needs are," she said. "They're going in the opposite direction."

 

Great Lakes United, an environmental group spanning both sides of the Canada-US border, has also opposed the development, as has Sarnia mayor Mike Bradley, who told Sun Media that the controversial plan highlights the need for greater cross-border communication on water withdrawals. "This has clearly flagged the issue and it's been raised on an international level," he said.

 

Closer to home, Ms. Muter and other environmentalists are warily eyeing the northward extension of a York Region sewage pipe which empties into Lake Ontario, along with development strategies for Simcoe County, whose main waterbodies-including Lake Simcoe-drain into Georgian Bay via the Severn River. If water and waste move between southern Ontario and the Simcoe region, "they are crossing the hydrological divide," noted Ms. Muter.

 

The Georgian Baykeeper worries that urbanization of this swath of land between the GTA and cottage country is "a slippery slope," and the spread of development could easily result in demands for water from Lake Huron.

 

"Georgian Bay is seen as a clean, unlimited resource," she said. "If the sewage pipe is moving that far north I can also see it going west, and water being moved directly from Georgian Bay to southern Ontario."

 

There's an existing water pipe running from Collingwood to Alliston that is about two feet in diameter and has plenty of capacity remaining, according to the baykeeper. "There are a dozen Ts built into the Collingwood pipeline that aren't being used," said Ms. Muter. "I fear this will be used to start servicing more areas."

 

Intrabasin transfers-crossing the watershed of one Great Lake to another-are forbidden except in a few, strictly regulated exceptions, according to the terms of the Great Lakes Compact, Ms. Muter noted.

 

She's alarmed by the Michigan scheme to siphon water from Huron through a new pipeline, but is equally, if not more, concerned about Ontario's growth plans. "I don't think we should be pointing our fingers at the Americans if we ourselves aren't clean," she said.