by two countries and many states and provinces. Their protection is therefore a wholly public responsibility. “The establishment of a Great Lakes Basin Commons will require the full commitment and participation of all levels of government, people and nations living around the Lakes”, according to the Council of Canadians, a water-rights and social advocacy group. Big-thinkers at the bottled water companies may see


opportunity in Great Lakes degradation. Resorting to bottled water as the default for human consumption in the Great Lakes basin, as it has in less developed regions of the world, would signify abject failure on the part of regulators to protect the ecosystem. While paying $3 or so for 500ml of bottled water to conve- niently slake one’s thirst might seem acceptable, it will be less-so when applied to a whole week of potable, household water.


Will sanity prevail? So, for the Great Lakes to survive two things need


to happen. Firstly municipalities need to start phasing out subsidies and reflect the true cost in water and sewage bills. Considering that North Americans use more than twice the amount of water per capita/per day compared to Europeans, the most efficient method of reducing demand is through price. This will result in howls of protest from consumers and claims from the political right that it’s a hidden tax and anti-business – but so would Great Lakes water if it was rendered fetid and unusable. In a pre-emptive move the Ford Motor Company


has embarked on a strategy of eventually reducing the fresh water required to build each of its cars by 75%. Some of their plants are already at the 50% mark. “Big


Blue” – IBM, has adopted a similar strategy at its chip making plants and, based on their experience and achievements, has created a water-management busi- ness unit that consults with other companies on water consumption reduction strategies. This level of lucidity is based on the obvious; the days of cheap, plentiful fresh water are coming to an end. Indeed, senior levels of government whether federal,


state or provincial need to start facing the same stark reality as Ford and IBM and add the second dimension of water quality to water quantity. Renewed, bi-national regulations on all pollutant discharges into the Great Lakes must be enforced by states and provinces. This could be self-financing by phasing out municipal water subsidies and perhaps taxing bottled water or, at very least, its troublesome packaging. Above all, the public must be educated about the real value of water and the absolute need to keep the Great Lakes healthy. Without a highly proactive approach on both


sides of the border the Great Lakes are in extreme danger of degrading quickly. Evidence that it’s already started is clear. Scientists, journalists and concerned citizens have sounded the alarm. So, do we collectively buy-in to protecting the Great Lakes with price and leg- islation or continue to watch them shrink and putrefy? Climate change and consumer demand will continue to ask these extremely difficult questions of us. It’s vital that we answer correctly. “The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of


soothing and baffling expedients, of delays is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of con- sequences” (Winston Churchill)


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Photo: en.wikipedia.org 22


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