Tonight, I'm writing about the Great Lakes Compact and how it has and will be affected in the Southeastern Wisconsin region and area. This Great Lakes Compact was put into effect in 2008 as an agreement between some Canadian provinces and U.S. states to closely monitor our Great Lakes. The past few years in the state of Wisconsin, there has been some question as to who can have access to this water from Lake Michigan. The city of Waukesha in Waukesha County has expressed much interest in transferring most to all of their water supply over to the lake, but the Great Lakes Compact is preventing them from doing so and one actor in particular is helping in this fight.
An actor that comes into play with the Great Lakes Compact is the Compact Implementation Coalition.
http://www.protectourgreatlakes.org/
Their main focus and goal as an actor or group of actors is to keep tabs on the lakes and consistently advertise for the absolute best causes when it comes to keep that freshwater in tip-top shape. Before the Compact was even developed and implemented in '08, the CIC was right there fighting the battle against all lake pollution. They also incorporate many of their ideas directly to the public, so that even more steps and awareness can be shown. When Waukesha first submitted their water application, the CIC had a major role in sending the paperwork back to be revised because both them and the Great Lakes Compact claimed the report to be "incomplete". Basically what this meant was that the organization felt like Waukesha had no need for Great Lakes water. The current members of the CIC include; River Alliance of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Riverkeeper, National Wildlife Federation, Clean Wisconsin and the Midwest Environmental Advocates. Since all of these organizations come together, it is considered a coalition and does not have a headquarters. So I guess you could say, this actor or these actors are headquartered in all five of our Great Lakes.
I do believe the CIC is great at addressing the problems with our lake system. When an issue like the city of Waukesha steps into the picture, the organization is great at alerting the public about what exactly the problem is. Obviously the public cared enough about the situation and the CIC took action, so the plans have been revisited multiple times. The coalition has been around since 2008, so right around the same time as the compact. They have been doing solid work as well as representing tens of thousands of Wisconsin residents when it comes to arguing for water quality. To quote protectourgreatlakes.org, the CIC and WIDNR are close friends too. They have recently been"..aiding the Department of Natural Resources in the promulgation of administrative rules to implement the Compact, we have passionately and consistently advocated for the strongest protections possible for the waters of the Great Lakes, in keeping with the spirit and the letter of the Compact." So in a nutshell, the members of the CIC team up with each other and with larger actors to achieve a common goal of keeping the waterways up to snuff.
In conclusion, the steps that the CIC have been working extremely well and in their favor. This, to go along with the best option for the surrounding environment as well. The water quality doesn't just affect the living things that are in the water, it affects the people and other living things in Wisconsin and around the Midwest region. If citizens can get behind and stay behind this wonderful coalition and everything they do, we can preserve our waters for dozens of generations to come.
As you can see, Waukesha County is out of the Great Lakes Basin area. Although it is barely out of it, many still believe that they do not have the need for any lake water.
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