An international group that monitors the health of the Great Lakes is working on a report that they hope will help policymakers manage the waters in the basin. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Annie MacDowell reports on a public hearing that took place in Chicago:
Transcript
An international group that monitors the health of the Great Lakes is working on a report that
they hope will help policymakers manage the waters in the basin. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Annie MacDowell reports on a public hearing that took place in Chicago:
Concerned groups responded to a report that came out two weeks ago by the International Water
Uses Review Task Force. The International Joint Commission appointed the task force to
provide an update on developments that have taken place in the basin since the Commission’s
2000 report.
Noah Hall is from the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Office. He says he’s
concerned the task force’s report does not emphasize how serious threats to the Great Lakes have
become.
“The report could mislead the public or interested policy makers and lull policy makers into
complacency in terms of the need and the urgency for basin-wide protection for the Great Lakes,
particularly for ground water.”
Hall said ground water depletion is causing problems in the communities around the Great Lakes
Basin. Other criticisms of the report were its failure to look toward the future on issues like
climate change and water diversion. The U. S. Chairman of the IJC says the Commission will
study all the public’s comments at a retreat and write their official report within two to three
months.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Annie MacDowell.