This week was filled with committee meetings and workgroup meetings pertaining to the Senate (primarily SB860) and House bills  (primarily HB5069) that will regulate future large quantity water withdrawals in Michigan.  As I mentioned, the two parties (Democrat and Republican) have been working toward a compromise and negotiation of the differences that existed in their original bill packages.  They continue to do so, with the stated goal of still reaching a complete compromise.  However, this past week, the two parties decided to each draft up a bill, ~85% similar (representing prior recent compromise), but are different in three main remaining ways.  First, the Senate had informally aggreed to a less than 1% reduction in coldwater fisheries, as part of the negotiations of many other issues, but recently decided to backslide on it, keeping the parts of the compromise they received, but taking back what they had given.  They now propose to allow a 5% reduction if coldwater fish abundance (which also equates to a 25% reduction in summer low water volume).  The House Democratic package is staying at less than 1% reduction to coldwater fisheries.  Both bills currently propose a 5% reduction in fish abundance in "cold-transitional" or marginal trout streams, and much large levels of fish abundance reductions in cool and warm water streams and rivers.  Secondly,  the House bills propose permitting requirements for withdrawals approaching the allowable threshold in coolwater and warmwater rivers and streams, while the Senate bill does not (unless the withdrawal is over 2 million gallons per day - as its required by the Great Lakes Compact).  This permitting criteria is what allows for public input in the decision making process.  Their currently is no permitting criteria required for withdrawals less than 2 million gallons per day for cold and cold-transitional waters, in either bill (part of the negotiation/compromise outcomes).  Lastly, the House bill seeks to explicitly recognize that the state has duties to protect groundwater under the Public Trust, since surface waters are a Public Trust resource and groundwater and surface waters are interconnected.  The Senate bill resists explicitly recognizing this for fear of its ramifications in providing for greater public oversight of water management (and thus more uncertainty for the regulated community - aka commercial ventures). 

Brook trout are found in many cold water streams throughout Michigan and they need well oxygenated, cold water to survive.  Coaster brook trout, like steelhead, spend part of their life cycles cruising along the coastlines of large lakes.  At one time their range in Michigan included Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior, however, that range has been reduced to certain portions of Lake Superior.  The Salmon Trout River is one of the coaster brook trout’s remaining habitats and this habitat is threatened by siltation from the construction of roads and the proposed Kennecott mine. 

On February 22, 2006, the Sierra Club Mackinac Chapter and others petitioned the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to list the coaster brook trout as an endangered species and to designate its critical habitat.  The FWS issued a notice on March 20, 2008, that it had determined that the petition contained enough scientific and commercial information to possibly warrant the listing of the coaster brook trout as an endangered species.  In making its finding for the notice, the FWS considered, as one of its factors, the threat posed by the proposed Kennecott sulfide mine.

Members - Contact your State leaders NOW!

The State House and Senate have been unable to reach a compromise on legislation regulating ground water withdrawals in the State of Michigan. In the words of MCTU Director Dr. Bryan Burroughs, "Cold water fisheries are our highest quality rivers and streams and are part of the unique fabric of Michigan, its quality of life and the economic backbone of many small Michigan communities."  The goal of any such legislation should be to conserve and protect Michigan's cold water resources for future generations of anglers and non-anglers.  The modified Senate legislation (SB 860 Substitute (S-3))does not do that. Urge your State representatives to pass the modified House Bill (HB5069 Substitute (H-3)).

Protect our cold water trout fisheries!

The Michigan Legislature is currently considering legislation (HB 4343) that will protect water diversions out of the Great Lakes by implementing the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact.  HB 4343 needs the support of our members!

Unfortunately, the State Senate also is considering legislation that will benefit large companies that want to withdraw groundwater in this State – at the expense of cold water fisheries.  Senate Bills 858, 859 and 860 were purposely designed to eliminate the public’s involvement in decisions regarding large-scale water withdrawals. 

They do this by relying on something similar to an ATM machine to make decisions about impacts a given withdrawal would have on cold water fisheries.  Under these bills, a company that is interested in withdrawing between 100,000 and less than 2 million gpd would be required to register with the DEQ and use a new computer program ("assessment tool").  The intended user will input some information into the computer and the computer will determine if a proposed withdrawal will result in an "adverse impact" and whether the withdrawal falls in a Zo