Transcript Governor Doyle’s 2006 Water Conservation Symposium

Sustaining the
Water Belt of
North America
Todd Ambs
Water Division Administrator, WDNR
October 26, 2009
What is the Future of Great
Lakes’ Waters?
The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of
the community to include soils, waters, plants,
and animals, or collectively: the land.
Aldo Leopold
Great Lakes
Environment

20% of world fresh surface
water
Quality of Life

Vast region of
interconnected fresh
surface water
Economy

Critical resource for
economy, recreation and
environment
Wisconsin Water Resources
 15,000
lakes
 84,000 miles of rivers

5.3 million acres of
wetlands
 1,000 miles of great lakes
shoreline
 Groundwater resources–
100 feet deep
We have a responsibility to
future generations
“The ultimate test of a
persons conscience may
be the willingness to
sacrifice something
today for future
generations whose
words of thanks will
never be heard.”
Gaylord Nelson
Watershed Approach
The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary
of the environment.
Gaylord Nelson
Wisconsin’s Economy

Agriculture

Timber
Production

Tourism
Tourism
 $13.1
billion spent by
tourists in 2008
 95%
increase in
travel expenditures
from 1995 to 2005
Wisconsin Department of Tourism
Water Recreation

More than 575,000
registered boats
 Wisconsin residents
ranked swimming as
third favorite outdoor
activity
 1.4 million anglers
 3,719,000 angling days
by non residents
National Economy Depends
on the Great Lakes
 30%
of GNP
 125 million tons cargo

$53 billion in annual
revenue
 Boating supports 250,000
jobs
A Watershed Time for
Wisconsin’s Waters
Two Blueprints for Action

The Great Lake-St.
Lawrence River Basin
Sustainable Water
Resources
Agreement

The Great Lakes
Regional
Collaboration’s
Strategy to Restore
and Protect the Great
Lakes
Compact Fundamentals

Monitoring and reporting
 Water conservation
 Management of in basin
water use



Withdrawal
Consumptive Use
Prohibition on diversions

Straddling community/county
exceptions
Water Conservation

Tiered program with
increasing
requirements



Voluntary to greatest
rigor
Out of basin, in basin,
straddling
community/county,
large water losses
Details in rulemaking
Water Management – In-basin

Permits (new)



Baseline, monitoring
and reporting, water
conservation
General Permits,
>100,000 gpd (25
years)
Individual Permits, >1
mgd (10 years)
Water Management – In-basin

Water Loss approvals
(1985)


> 2 mgd
Decision Making
Standard

New or Increase > 1 mgd
Other Elements

Water Supply Service Area
Plans





20 year plan
Population greater than 10,000
Inventory of sources and quality
Existing populations/demands,
future forecasts
Environmental/economic
analysis of future options
Diversions

Applications must be
consistent with water
supply service area
plan
 Meet decision making
standard
 Straddling community
and county requests
likely coming
Great Lakes Restoration
Initiative
Habitat and Wildlife
Protection and Restoration

Protect and restore
wetland
 Fish passage, Restore
habitat
 Projects:



Wetland Restoration,
Spawning habitat – pike,
musky, sturgeon
Dam Removal, fishways, culvert
modifications
Invasive Species

Identify other
vectors for
aquatic invasive
species

Fund invasive
species
management and
control in coastal
wetlands

Ballast water
controls
Nearshore Health
and Nonpoint Source
 Beach
monitoring &
forecasting –
sanitary surveys
 Increase stream
buffers
 Support nutrient
management
 Nearshore
monitoring
Toxic Substances
and Areas of Concern
• Develop implementation
•
•
plans for delisting criteria
in AOCs
Sediment remediation
and habitat improvement
projects
Identify and eliminate
emerging contaminants
Accountability, Monitoring, Evaluation,
Communication, and Partnerships

Implementation relies
on good baseline data

Existing systems for
data collection and
reporting (SWIMS,
WATERS, others?)

Use Strategy to build
on partnership
opportunities
Eighty percent
of life is
showing up.
Woody Allen
Great Lakes URLs
 Office
of the Great Lakes :
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/water/greatlakes/
 Wisconsin
Great Lakes Strategy
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/water/greatlakes/wistrategy/
 Great
Lakes Restoration Initiative:
http://epa.gov/glnpo/glri/index.html