LANSING, Mich.—State Senator Glenn S. Anderson joined with his colleagues in the State Senate today to pass a revised agreement protecting our freshwater and implement the Great Lakes Compact. The legislation bans major water diversions and increases oversight of large quantity users. Sen. Anderson co-sponsored Senate Bill 212, which makes Michigan a part of the Great Lakes Compact.

“I have been fighting for the protection of the Great Lakes my entire legislative career, and today’s agreement is not just the most comprehensive legislation to date in the state, but in the entire Great Lakes region,” said Sen. Anderson, who also introduced SB 721 last fall as part of a strong Senate Democrats Water Package. “Our review of this package was intensive and exhaustive, and in the end, we reached a compromise that environmental, agricultural and business interests could all agree on.”

The legislation unveiled in today’s agreement preserved the following core protections for the Great Lakes:

• Enacts the Great Lakes Water Resources Compact.
• Bans significant diversions from Michigan waters and the Great Lakes.
• Establishes a regulatory standard which provides oversite of large quantity withdrawals and permitting for the largest water users to ensure water withdrawals, from both surface and groundwater, do not cause an adverse resource impact.
• Contains special additional protections for thermally-sensitive trout streams.
• Includes special provisions to protect Michigan’s waters against large-scale withdrawals by water bottlers.
• Reaffirms our rights as citizens to seek redress if our waters are harmed, and reiterates the state’s role in protecting those waters.

Sen. Anderson is a member of the Great Lakes Legislative Caucus, and earlier this month, he participated in the annual Great Lakes Legislative Caucus Conference in Chicago to discuss best practices with neighboring states and experts for managing resources in the Great Lakes Region. The caucus is a nonpartisan group of state and provincial lawmakers from eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces who work to promote Great Lakes restoration and strengthen the role of legislators in the Great Lakes policymaking process. Participating legislators’ expenses were funded by grants from the Joyce Foundation, a nonpartisan organization that supports efforts to protect the Great Lakes’ natural environment.

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Anderson represents the sixth state senate district which includes the communities of Livonia, Westland, Garden City, and Redford Township. He also serves as the Assistant Democratic Floor Leader.