2005 & 2006 Great Lakes Regional Water Use Reports Available

Jan 19: The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) announced that the Great Lakes Regional Water Use Reports for 2005 and 2006 are now available. The GLC extended its appreciation to the states and provinces in providing this information. The Great Lakes Regional Water Use Database was established by the Great Lakes states and provinces in response to a recommendation in the Great Lakes Charter of 1985 that calls for a uniform, consistent base of data of Great Lakes water withdrawals, diversions and consumptive uses. Beginning in 1987, water use data have been submitted to the repository on an annual basis and reports provided to assist the jurisdictions in Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River water resources planning and management.


As specified by the Water Resources Management Committee in its 1987 report, Managing the Waters of the Great Lakes Basin, the database catalogs withdrawals by water use category, sub-basin and jurisdiction. The database became operational in the summer of 1988 following a multi-year cooperative effort. Design and development involved input from many state, provincial, and federal agencies, with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) providing much of the leadership. A Great Lakes Regional Water Use Database to provide comparable water use information on withdrawals, diversions and consumptive use is also called for under Article 4 of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact and Article 301 of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources.


Access an announcement from GLC with links to related information (click here). Access the GLC water use database (click here). Access a database query page to obtain customized search results (click here).

Comments Wanted On Draft Water Use Reporting Protocols

Mar 25: The Council of Great Lakes Governors (CGLG) announced it is inviting public comment from March 25 through April 27, 2009, on draft water use information reporting protocols for the Great Lakes--St. Lawrence River Basin. The Great Lakes Governors and Premiers signed the Great Lakes--St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement on December 13, 2005. In the Agreement, the Governors and Premiers committed to gather and share water use information. The information would be used to assist the Great Lakes States and Provinces in beginning to improve scientific understanding of the waters of the Basin, the impacts of withdrawals from various locations and water sources on the basin ecosystem, understanding of the role of groundwater, and to clarify what groundwater forms part of the waters of the Basin. It will also provide the basis for adaptive management.

The draft protocols now available for public comment were jointly drafted by staff from the Great Lakes States and Provinces in order to develop recommendations for how information will be reported to the Great Lakes--St. Lawrence River Water use database. Also included are draft guidelines for water users to report water use information to the relevant State or Province. The draft protocols reflect input from Tribes and First Nations, and regional stakeholders. Comments are invited on all aspects of the draft protocols and, in particular, how water use information for intra-basin transfers should be reported. Following a review of the public comments, CGLG said revisions will be considered to the drafts.

Access the draft protocols (click here). Access further information from the CGLG website (click here).

Report On Water Conservation & The Compact

Aug 5: Environment Michigan (EM) issued a new report on water efficiency to boost its case for the Great Lakes Compact that is moving in Congress. The report -- Using Water Wisely -- calculates that six Southwestern states could save as much as 1.86 trillion gallons of water per year by dramatically improving efficiency of water use. The Soutwestern states include: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah. EM says the Compact would both bar Great Lakes water from being transferred to places like the Southwest and require states in the Great Lakes region to practice water efficiency and conservation themselves.

John Rumpler, Environment Michigan’s Great Lakes program director said, “This finding of huge efficiency potential supports the Great Lakes Compact in two ways. First, it decisively shows that, with a little discipline and ingenuity, the Southwest can meet its own water needs, without siphoning from our Lakes. And second, it shows that here at home, there’s tremendous potential for us to conserve water -- thereby protecting the Lakes’ ecology while allowing for further economic growth.”

The report documents potential water savings in key sectors of the economy -- including agriculture, residential, commercial, and power generation. For example, the fast-growing city of Denver, CO is expected to save 1.5 million gallons of water per year with a program that pays businesses to switch to water-saving technologies. In other instances, mandatory standards could reduce water waste even more dramatically. The report says that by using existing water efficiency technologies and adopting effective programs to conserve water regionwide, six states in the Southwest could save as much as 5.7 million acre-feet of water per year.

Access a release from Environment Michigan (click here). Access a summary and link to the complete 29-page report (click here).

USGS Great Lakes Consumptive Water Use Report

May 23: The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has released a major 191-page report entitled, Consumptive Water-Use Coefficients for the Great Lakes Basin and Climatically Similar Areas. The report addresses issues of how much of the water is removed from the Great Lakes for use in everyday products such as food, ethanol, household chemicals or paper products; what is not returned; and what type of uses are most likely to cause losses. The new report will be used by water-resource managers and planners in the Great Lakes as they develop policies to encourage efficient and sustainable water use.

Kimberly Shaffer, hydrologist with the USGS and author of the report said, "We found that irrigation and livestock had the largest losses compared with total water withdrawn from the Great Lakes basin. Of the total water withdrawn for irrigation, 70-100 percent was lost to the basin." The authors examined seven consumptive water-use categories: domestic and public supply, industrial, electric power, irrigation, livestock, commercial, and mining. Consumptive water use is water that is evaporated, transpired, incorporated into products or crops, consumed by humans or livestock, or otherwise removed from the immediate environment. It is usually reported as a percentage of the amount of water withdrawn.

USGS said the study is relevant to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement, between eight states and two Canadian provinces that would prohibit major diversions of water beyond counties bordering the basin. For this report USGS compiled, mapped, graphed, and statistically analyzed consumptive water use numbers from more than 100 sources as a starting point for facility managers, water managers, and scientists in determining the amount of water consumed in seven water-use categories. For comparison purposes, consumptive use information for basins and states that have climates similar to the Great Lakes basin are included in the report. Methods for computing and estimating consumptive use are also presented, as is an extensive bibliography.

Access a release and links to a fact sheet, the complete report and related information (click here).