Global warming, water diversion may become local issues on the peninsula | Ramblings and Rumblings - www.portclintonnewsherald.com - Port Clinton, OH

Global warming, water diversion may become local issues on the peninsula | Ramblings and Rumblings - www.portclintonnewsherald.com - Port Clinton, OH

Global warming, water diversion may become local issues on the peninsula


A decade ago at a Village of Marblehead council meeting, the Honorable Mayor Kathleen “Kay” Dziak presiding, a councilman asked to be heard. He suggested that Village Council draft a resolution that would put the council on record as opposing any water diversion from Lake Erie and the Great Lakes to the southern and western states. There were muffled snickers from the few visitors, and council listened politely, then the evening's agenda moved forward. There never was discussion and there never was a resolution. Most likely the moment wasn't captured in any minutes and has been long ago forgotten. The idea that a handful of elected public officials from a small Village could take any action that might have some effect on larger communities along the North Coast or make a statement that would serve as a sentinel seemed at the time to be far-fetched. So did the dire predictions of shallower water, higher water temperatures, lower oxygen levels in the water, bad fishing and, if those weren't horrific enough, water being diverted from Lake Erie to New Mexico.

But now it appears that things really are heating up. Of course, it's early January, and the temperature is above 60 degrees, but I am referring to the various reports being issued that forecast serious trouble for Lake Erie in the coming years.

A 315-page report, “State of the Strait: Status and Trends of Key Indicators 2007,” released within the last month, is the culmination of a three-year study of the Detroit River-western Lake Erie corridor. The editors of the report include members of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the University of Windsor, Environment Canada, the International Joint Commission and the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy. Funding sources included several of the aforementioned agencies as well as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The gist of the report: 75 scientists from nearly 50 government, business, academic and public-interest groups claimed Lake Erie could drop 3.28 feet to 6.56 feet of water by 2066.

A 41-page report published by The National Wildlife Foundation, with the support of Environmental Advocates of New York and five other environmental groups from across the Great Lakes states, appeared in late November. The report was written based on the findings of researchers at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the International Joint Commission, the federal government and independent researchers. The report explains the findings of scientists and puts them into an enviro-political context. The gist of the report: prepare for a new climate change reality. Higher average temperatures in the Great Lakes region by 2050 will cause a 4.5-foot drop in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron waters because evaporation will outpace rain and snow. Since Lake Huron feeds Lake Erie, the already warmest, shallowest, and most ecologically fragile part of the Great Lakes may be doomed. The report advises that higher lake temperatures likely would lead to more algae and less oxygen in the water, curtailing fish production and crimping tourism.

A 3-page report issued by the International Association for Great Lakes Research highlights problems caused by pollution, invasive species, contaminated sediments, loss of wetlands and shoreline habitat. The report does not make any direct references to climate change.

So you can take a big gulp with the 315-page report or a small drink with the 3-page report, but those who are in the know seem to be indicating that global warming has arrived in our little corner of the planet. If it feels any better, I guess you might call it Great Lakes Warming. If it hasn't arrived quite yet, apparently it will be appearing at a shoreline near you soon. If you think it is cyclical with the ups and downs of temperature and lake levels, you are not alone. But the plethora of reports, not limited to the aforementioned, seem to forecast trouble.

Such trouble appears to double in light of the Thirsty Southwest. The Great Lakes hold 20% of the Earth's fresh water, or 95% of this country's surface freshwater, and states in the southwestern part of the United States want some of it. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson even made the notion of water sharing part of his stump speech in the early infighting in the presidential race. Whether or not the Thirsty Southwest is quenched by water from Lake Erie remains to be seen in the decades ahead. The possibility looms.

The double-trouble, or what Noah Hall from Wayne State University refers to as “a one-two punch,” is here to stay. The issues of global warming and water diversion are not going away. As global warming increases by degrees, so will problems in Lake Erie increase by degrees. As water diversion begins with a single drop, so too will the solutions to these issues begin by a single vote or act.

By STEVE PLOTTNER. Posted at 1:51 PM