January 20, 2004

LANSING – Out of a sense of urgency to protect a key element of Michigan’s legacy – its water – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today sent a special message to the Michigan Legislature in which she unveiled a comprehensive plan to protect Michigan’s great, fresh waters.

The cornerstone of the Granholm initiative is the Michigan Water Legacy Act, a comprehensive water withdrawal statute based on the principles of the Great Lakes Charter, which will subject all significant water withdrawals to review by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to ensure that Michigan’s water resources are not impaired or compromised.

"The Great Lakes fuel our economy, color our character, and literally define the shape of our state," Granholm said in her special message. "They are our most vital resources which makes their preservation and protection all too important to approach haphazardly.

"Our waters may be more threatened today than they have ever been. We must begin to live up to the goals set forth in the 1985 Great Lakes Charter where we agreed to manage our water withdrawals," Granholm added. "We need a fair and balanced approach to water withdrawal that will allow us to protect our water resources while also providing a predictable regulatory climate under which businesses and communities can thrive."

Granholm’s comprehensive water initiative addresses the major concerns facing the Great Lakes today: water withdrawal, invasive species, open water disposal, National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), revised sanitary code, wetlands protection, and securing federal funding for Great Lakes restoration projects.

DEQ Director Steven E. Chester echoed the Governor’s comments on the urgency of the water issue.

"Now is the time to be bold in protecting our most precious resource – water," said Chester. "This comprehensive plan will provide us with the regulatory framework essential to preserving the Great Lakes and Michigan’s lakes and streams."

In addition to the proposed Water Legacy Act that will be delivered to state lawmakers in February, the initiative includes administrative steps that the Granholm Administration will immediately implement to protect Michigan waters.

Those steps include an executive directive signed today by the Governor that prohibits state agencies from approving the open water disposal of contaminated dredge materials in Michigan waters; and, a second executive directive to be signed later this month that asks the DEQ to protect criticalisolated wetlands on state land from harm.

Further, the Governor will ask the Attorney General to join a number of environmental and conservation groups in a lawsuit against the EPA to compel them to regulate ballast water discharges, and ask state lawmakers to live up to the 2004 budget agreement by approving user fees to fund the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, a critical component in monitoring what goes into our water.

Finally, the Granholm Administration will ask the Bush Administration to fund the first installment of a multi-year Great Lakes restoration effort.