Feigold Demands Action to Address Low water Levels in Great Lakes

Press Release

FEINGOLD DEMANDS ACTION TO ADDRESS LOW WATER LEVELS IN GREAT LAKES

From the Shore of Lake Superior, Feingold Calls for an Immediate and Comprehensive Approach to Address Decreasing Water Levels

During his Bayfield County listening session today in Port Wing, Wisconsin, located on the shores of Lake Superior, U.S. Senator Russ Feingold announced he will demand swift action to address the reported dramatic drop in water levels in the Great Lakes. According to recent reports in the New York Times and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, experts expect Lake Superior's water level to reach a record low in the next two months, while water levels in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron have dropped three feet since 1999. Feingold will call on the international body that oversees Lake Superior, as well as Congress, to immediately take action to address the decreasing water levels.

The International Joint Commission (IJC), created in 1909 by the U.S. and Canada to oversee waters with shared boundaries, has not updated its regulatory plan for managing Lake Superior's water level and outflow since 1979, but has announced plans to study whether an update is warranted. Feingold will call on the IJC to expedite its study process, which stalled after first being proposed in 2002 and is currently expected to take another five years to complete. He will also call on the IJC to update its regulatory plan and increase coordination with Lake Superior's stakeholders.

"Studies of water levels in the Great Lakes suggest that both man-made changes and abnormal weather conditions may be contributing to the falling levels," Feingold said. "While further study is warranted, we also need immediate action. The IJC needs to act with a greater sense of urgency and update its nearly 30 year-old regulations of Lake Superior's water level, while Congress needs to find out what additional actions are needed to prevent the integrity of the Great Lakes from being further compromised."

Feingold will also call on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to hold a hearing to investigate the near-historic low lake levels and actions to address the likely contributors, ranging from global warming - which is expected to cause long-term changes in the Great Lakes' climate similar to emerging trends of drought, reduced ice cover, increased evaporation, and rising lake temperatures - to management decisions including the IJC's water level regulation, to water withdrawals. The hearing should look at possible solutions, including restoring federal protections for critical wetlands and headwater streams. Feingold recently introduced the Clean Water Restoration Act to restore the federal government's ability to protect these waters under the Clean Water Act, which has been undermined by recent controversial Supreme Court decisions.

"The Great Lakes are a national resource like no other and we can't afford to take them for granted - we must heed the early warning signs and take a comprehensive approach to protect the Lakes," Feingold said. "The Great Lakes require our immediate attention and commitment if they are to remain a vibrant economic and environmental resource for Wisconsin, the Midwest, and the entire nation."

Feingold's listening session was held at the Port Wing Town Hall in Port Wing, WI. The listening session was Feingold's 55th of 2007 and 1063rd since 1993.

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