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Check out Richardson's views on environmental policies on his official site. |
Richardson plans to leave Lake Superior's water alone
By Hope Rein Jarrett Waite, a 2007 graduate of UW-Eau Claire and 17-year resident of Bayfield, a community of 602 people located on the south shore of Lake Superior, has a deep-seeded connection with the area. He describes the the sandstone bluffs and blue-green waters as the ideal home for aquatic life and many varieties of animals. And the squawking of seagulls as they skim the surface of the lake looking for the catch of the day evokes a feeling of being at the coast of an ocean, not a land-locked lake. “I grew up living within a quarter-mile of the lake,” Waite says. “It was a great place to live." The small town of Bayfield, which relies heavily on the lake for its economic support, is one of hundreds of communities surrounding the largest of the five Great Lakes. Lake Superior covers over 31,000 square miles and contains 10 percent of the world’s fresh water. The fact that Lake Superior is such a mammoth body of water, has gotten some officials thinking. Since 2000, various committees have proposed to the government to begin the bulk export of Lake Superior’s water to areas in the country, primarily the Southwest, that have been struggling with a lack of fresh water. The idea of removing water from Lake Superior considering it is at a record-low has upset many people in the Great Lakes region, including Waite. “I don’t like the idea of taking water from the lake at all,” Waite says. “It doesn’t seem feasible to me. It doesn’t seem like a long-term solution.” And neither does Democratic presidential candidate Gov. Bill Richardson even though he is from New Mexico, a state that is struggling with water issues. Richardson does not believe in transferring water from one region to another, no matter the necessity. According to a press release, he stringently believes in keeping water in its original basin and allowing states to govern their own distribution of water. Richardson is the only current candidate who plans to develop a comprehensive water management plan. But Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama does to protect the Great Lakes' waters. According to Obama's official campaign website, he is a supporter of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration and co-sponsored the Great Lakes Environmental Restoration Act. As for Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, after reviewing his stance on environmental issues on his official website, there is no indication that he is focusing at all on the environment during his campaign. Bruce Moore, environmental engineer for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said that he can understand why people would want to take Lake Superior's water. "Some say, 'We appear to have an abundance of water, why not share?'" Moore says. But he goes on to say that it really is not that simple. Renee Ransom, a geology student at UWEC, can agree with that sentiment. After studying in New Mexico for a month, she saw firsthand the problems the Southwest is having with water. "It doesn't seem like people are going to stop living there even though most people realize the area can't ecologically handle their demands," Ransom says. "Taking water from Lake Superior may eventually have to happen." But Moore went on to warn that by removing as little as a few millimeters, there will be consequences. And considering that Lake Superior has already lost more than a few millimeters without a man-powered removal of water, there is no room for exportation, Moore suggests. "If you alter the water levels, there will be issues with the plant and terrestrial life that depend on the lake." Richardson, the current governor of New Mexico, has made strides to reclaim the Southwest's water supply by implementing a statewide water initiative. According to an Oct. 13 press release, Richardson has also created a statewide strategic water reserve as well as a water innovation fund and water trust fund to invest in water conservation and production.
“Taking water from Lake Superior will just create a bigger problem for all parties involved,” Waite says, “so we should just deal with one problem at a time.” Moore adds that the ramifications of exporting massive amounts of water from Lake Superior could result in extreme ramifications for its ecological environment. “I think it is prudent to exercise extreme caution,” Moore says. “Anytime you change the balance of resources, there are going to be biologcial effects on all of the living things involved.”
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Lake Superior's shoreline during the autumn season.