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January 21, 2004Granholm's water protection plan targets large-scale usersRules would apply to both new users, expansion plansByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - The state would gain some permitting control over new, large-scale water users under a water protection plan unveiled by Gov. Jennifer Granholm. "We need comprehensive water withdrawal legislation," state Department of Environmental Quality director Steve Chester said Tuesday in a telephone interview with the Record-Eagle, as he outlined plans for the governor's Michigan Water Legacy Act. Utilities and other large users would need a state permit to withdraw more than two million gallons per day - or 100 million gallons per year - of surface water or groundwater. Such requests would be evaluated on various environmental factors, Chester said. Those rules wouldn't apply to around 170 existing, large-scale water users - including a controversial Ice Mountain plant in Mecosta County - Chester said. It would apply to new operations or expansions planned by present users. "As long as the waters are being replenished and we're preserving that water, there shouldn't be a problem with business interests getting their fair share," Chester said. Granholm's proposal also deals with invasive species, disposing of dredged materials in open waters, creating a statewide sanitary code to deal with sewage overflows and better wetlands protection. The governor is also pushing for better enforcement of groundwater and stormwater discharge permits by the state, and for more federal dollars for restoration and cleanup work around the Great Lakes. Granholm's proposal would use water withdrawal standards identified in a 1985 Great Lakes charter agreement between eight states and two Canadian provinces. Portions of Granholm's proposal may be implemented with executive order, while other aspects require legislative approval. "We've clearly fallen behind the times," Chester said of the state's efforts to regulate its freshwater supplies. "I think this is way overdue." Critics of the state's handling of the Ice Mountain water bottling plant dispute said any new state water rules should protect state waters as a "public resource trust." Traverse City attorney Jim Olson, who represents the citizens group fighting the plant, called Michigan's waters "an invaluable resource" needing long-term protection at all levels of government. "We don't see that a water law should pursue the same policy suggested so far by Granholm, that said water could be sold to create jobs," said Olson, counsel for the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation. "If it's not for a public purpose (water withdrawals) should be prohibited. ... We need a long-term water plan before selling it is even considered," he said. The state's approval of the $150 million water bottling plant has focused criticism on Michigan's comparatively minimal water use rules. In November a circuit judge ordered Ice Mountain to cease water pumping - about 360,000 gallons per day, the DEQ says - ruling the operation had caused a "material diminishment" of water levels in nearby lakes, streams and wetlands. Environmentalists criticized Granholm and DEQ for backing the company's appeal. Last month an appellate court granted the company's request for emergency relief pending Ice Mountain's appeal.
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