A long-awaited bill calling for approval of a multistate agreement to protect the Great Lakes is likely to be ready for consideration by the state Legislature in the coming week.
Dan Kamminen, a staffer for state Sen. Robert Jauch, D-Poplar, a supporter of the proposal, said a draft of the bill is nearly complete.
It would be an important milestone in a rocky process. The proposed agreement was endorsed by the Great Lakes Council of Governors in 2005 and forwarded to the eight Great Lakes states for action by their legislatures in 2007. But Wisconsin has been slow to act on the plan, which would regulate and set policies for the use of water in the entire Great Lakes region, an area about the size of France.
In September, a legislative study committee charged with making a recommendation on the compact broke up after failing to reach an agreement. Critics, including state Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, argued the compact would force the state to relinquish too much control over its own use of Great Lakes water.
But Kamminen said recent weeks have seen a new atmosphere of cooperation and more support for the compact. Part of that has come from increased understanding of potential threats to the region 's control of Great Lakes water. For example, during his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the presidency, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson suggested water from the lakes could be pumped to water-starved Southwestern states because "states like Wisconsin are awash in water. "
The proposed compact would ban pumping water out of the Great Lakes region to other states.
Also, Gov. Jim Doyle has been outspoken in his support of the proposed compact. In his State of the State address, Doyle said approval of the compact by the state Legislature is a priority.
"There is a sense of inevitability that is beginning to form around the compact, " Kamminen said. "People understand the importance of the lakes, and they understand the importance of a compact to protect the lakes. "
Kamminen called the copy of the bill that is expected to be in Legislators ' hands next week a "pragmatic draft " that not everyone will agree with but everyone will be able to work with. He said hearings on the bill can also be expected within the next couple of weeks.
-- Ron Seely
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