SB523: Bill Text

LRB-3207/1

RCT:jd&lk:jf

2007 - 2008 LEGISLATURE

2007 Senate BILL 523

February 21, 2008 - Introduced by Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. Referred to Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

SB523,1,12 An Act to repeal 196.98, 281.35 (2) (a), 281.35 (3), 281.35 (8) and 281.35 (10) (a) 4.; to renumber 281.35 (2) (b) and 283.83; to renumber and amend 30.18 (2) (b) and 281.35 (11) (f); to amend 196.49 (2), 281.34 (5) (e) 1., 281.35 (1) (b) 2., 281.35 (4) (a) (intro.), 281.35 (5) (a) 13., 281.35 (5) (b), 281.35 (5) (c) (intro.), 281.35 (5) (d) 2., 281.35 (9) (a), 281.35 (11) (intro.), 281.35 (12) (c), 281.41 (1) (c), 281.94 (1), 281.95 and 281.98 (1); and to create 14.95, 30.18 (2) (b) 2., 30.208 (3m), 281.34 (5) (dm), 281.343, 281.344, 281.346, 281.348, 281.35 (1) (bm), 281.35 (4) (c), 281.35 (9) (d), 281.41 (4), 283.41 (3) and 283.83 (2) of the statutes; relating to: the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, withdrawals of water from the Great Lakes Basin, water withdrawal and use, water supply planning, water conservation, granting rule-making authority, and providing a penalty.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

This bill ratifies the Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact and creates provisions for implementing the compact in this state. The bill also includes provisions that apply statewide relating to the registration and reporting of water withdrawals, to water conservation, and to water supply planning for public water supply systems (water utilities).

Current federal law

Currently, the federal Water Resources Development Act, commonly known as WRDA, provides that no water may be diverted or exported from the Great Lakes, or any tributary of any of the Great Lakes, for use outside the Great Lakes basin unless the diversion or exporting is approved by the governor of each of the Great Lakes states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. WRDA does not contain standards that governors must use in deciding whether to approve a proposal to divert or export water.

The Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact

In general

The Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact (the compact) was endorsed by the governors of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin (the states) on December 13, 2005. The compact will take effect if and when it is ratified in substantively the same form by the legislature of each state and is consented to by the U.S. Congress. Any change in the compact would also have to be ratified by each state's legislature and consented to by Congress. The compact may be terminated by a majority vote of the states.

The compact relates to the withdrawal and use of water (both groundwater and surface water) from the watersheds of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River (the Great Lakes basin). Part of northern Wisconsin is in the Lake Superior watershed and part of eastern Wisconsin is in the Lake Michigan watershed. The rest of the state is in the upper Mississippi River basin.

A compact is basically an agreement among states for dealing with a subject of common concern. Unlike some other compacts, a number of the provisions of this compact are not self-executing. The compact tells states what they must do. Additional state laws or administrative rules are necessary to do the things that the compact requires. The compact gives the states wide choices in how to implement some of its provisions. For example, the compact allows states to determine the threshold size for regulating water withdrawals from the Great Lakes basin. In other cases, the compact specifies regulatory requirements that a state may make more, but not less, restrictive.

The compact creates the Great Lakes—St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Council (the council) consisting of the governors of the states. The compact authorizes a governor to designate an alternate to act in the governor's absence. The council oversees the implementation of the compact and has responsibilities such as identifying and reviewing water conservation and efficiency objectives and approving certain proposals that involve diverting water from the watershed of one of the Great Lakes, as explained below. If any member of the council votes to disapprove a proposal for which council approval is required, the proposal is disapproved. The compact requires the members of the council to use the standards set forth in the compact, such as the exception standard described below, in deciding whether to approve or disapprove a proposal that is subject to council approval and authorizes the council to revise these standards using procedures specified in the compact.

The compact also provides for review of some proposals by the regional body, which consists of the members of the council and the premiers of Ontario and Quebec, Canada. The regional body has no decision-making authority.

Registration and reporting

The compact requires any person who makes a withdrawal of water from the Great Lakes basin that averages 100,000 gallons per day (GPD) or more in any 30-day period, or who diverts any amount of water, to register with the state and provide information about the withdrawal or diversion. Persons who are required to register must also annually report information about the monthly amounts of water withdrawn.

The compact requires the states to annually report to the council the information gathered through registration and reporting. The compact also requires each state to develop and maintain a water resources inventory for the collection, exchange, and dissemination of information about water resources.

Regulation of diversions

A diversion is either the transfer of water out of the Great Lakes basin or the transfer of water out of the watershed of one of the Great Lakes into the watershed of another of the Great Lakes. The compact generally prohibits new diversions and prohibits increases in the amount of diversions that exist when the compact takes effect. There are three exceptions to the prohibition on diversions, described below.

The compact requires states to treat the removal of water from the Great Lakes basin in containers larger than 5.7 gallons as a diversion. The compact gives the states discretion to determine how to regulate proposals to remove water from the basin in containers of 5.7 gallons or less (bottled water).

Straddling communities

A straddling community is a community that is partly within the Great Lakes basin and partly outside of the basin when the compact takes effect, but that is wholly within a county that is partly within the basin. The first exception to the prohibition on diversions allows the transfer of water to the part of a straddling community that is outside of the Great Lakes basin.

The exception only applies if all of the diverted water is used to supply water to the public and if an amount of water equal to the amount diverted, less an allowance for consumptive use, will be returned to the Great Lakes basin (such as through a sewage system). A consumptive use is a use of water that results in less of the water being returned to surface water or groundwater than was withdrawn (due to evaporation, for example). The proposal must maximize the amount of water that originated in the basin that is returned to the basin and minimize the amount of water that originated outside of the basin that is returned to the basin.

If the proposed new diversion or increase in an existing diversion would result from a new or increased withdrawal that averages 100,000 GPD or more in any 90-day period, the diversion must also meet the exception standard, described below. A proposal for a diversion to a straddling community that results in a very large new or increased water loss to the Great Lakes basin (5,000,000 GPD or greater average over 90 days) must also be reviewed by the regional body before the state decides whether to approve the diversion.

Intrabasin transfers

An intrabasin transfer is the transfer of water from the watershed of one of the Great Lakes into the watershed of another of the Great Lakes. In Wisconsin, that would mean a transfer from the Lake Superior watershed to the Lake Michigan watershed or vice versa.

The compact allows a state to decide whether and how to regulate an intrabasin transfer that averages less than 100,000 GPD in any 90-day period.

For a larger intrabasin transfer, the exception standard applies, except that the diverted water is not required to be returned to the watershed from which it was withdrawn, unless there is a very large new or increased water loss, and it must be shown that there is no feasible, cost-effective, and environmentally sound alternative for obtaining water in the watershed to which the water will be transferred. In addition, the state must notify the other states before it decides whether to approve the intrabasin transfer. An intrabasin transfer that results in a very large new or increased water loss must also be reviewed by the regional body and must be approved by the council with no disapproving votes.

Communities in straddling counties

The third exception to the prohibition on new or increased diversions is to provide water to a community in a straddling county. A community in a straddling county is a community no part of which is in the Great Lakes basin, but that is in a county that is partly in the Great Lakes basin.

A proposal for a diversion to a community in a straddling county is only allowed under the compact if all of the following apply:

1. All of the water is used to supply water to the public.

2. The community is otherwise without an adequate supply of water that is safe to drink.

3. The diversion satisfies the exception standard.

4. The proposal maximizes the amount of water that originated in the basin that is returned to the basin and minimizes the amount of water that originated outside of the basin that is returned to the basin.

5. There is no reasonable water supply alternative in the basin in which the community is located (in Wisconsin, that would be the upper Mississippi River basin).

6. The proposal is reviewed by the regional body.

7. The proposal is approved by the council with no disapproving votes.

Exception standard

As explained above, some diversions that are approvable under the compact are subject to what is called the exception standard. A proposal for a diversion meets the exception standard if it satisfies several criteria including the following:

1. The need for the diversion cannot be avoided through the efficient use and conservation of existing water supplies.

2. The amount of water diverted will be limited to quantities that are reasonable to meet the need.

3. An amount of water equal to the amount diverted, less an allowance for consumptive use, will be returned to the watershed from which it was withdrawn.

4. No water from outside of the source watershed will be returned to the source watershed unless it comes from a wastewater system that combines water from inside and outside of that watershed and is treated to satisfy water quality standards and to prevent the introduction of invasive species.

5. The diversion will not result in adverse impacts to the quantity or quality of the water of the Great Lakes basin or related natural resources.

6. Environmentally sound and economically feasible water conservation measures will be used to minimize the amount of water withdrawn and the amount of water lost to the Great Lakes basin.

Management and regulation of new and increased withdrawals; decision-making standard