Lake Erie Ohio

Ron Dzwonkowski: Message is clear: Don't mess with the Great Lakes

"If we do not hang together," Thomas Paine declared on the eve of the Revolutionary War, "we shall surely hang separately."

Or today, in the case of the Great Lakes states, drain separately.

Which is why it's a good thing that Gov. John Kasich of Ohio has vetoed a Buckeye State bill that would have allowed a big increase in water withdrawals from Lake Erie. We can't have one state in the region trying to exploit the water that all eight states are supposed to be defending, under terms of the Great Lakes Compact they all signed.

The lakes are a system, and what happens to one affects not only all five and their connecting waters but also the 40 million people in the U.S. and Canada who live in the region and drink from the lakes. That's a big reason for the compact -- to protect the entire system from any one state or province that may have a self-serving idea involving lots of water. Another is to keep the region united against demands for water from growing and thirsty areas of the nation. One leak in the wall, and pretty soon the floodgates will open.

Lure for economic growth

That may sound far-fetched, but so did the interstate highway system 75 years ago.

Now, when you hear about the brutal drought in Texas, the dust storms sweeping Arizona and how much of the nation's produce comes from parched California, it's not hard to imagine a pipeline system running someday alongside the nation's highways, from the Great Lakes to the south and west.

The idea behind Ohio's legislation was to allow the region's most generous water withdrawals as a lure for economic growth. That might have worked for a while, attracting water-intensive manufacturing, maybe food processors or even bottled-water companies. But the lakes are replenished naturally, a process that varies with each year's weather. Although it's hard to know how such withdrawals would have affected the water supply, given the importance of the lakes, it's only sensible to err on the side of too much protection rather than taking risks.

I grew up in Cleveland back in the day when Lake Erie was a stinky national joke. We went to the beach, but not in the water. I recall one visit when even the beach was off limits because of an oil slick. The lake has made a good recovery since the 1950s-'60s, but is still fragile -- too fragile to risk its environmental balance by sticking in industrial-size straws.

In a veto that bucked his fellow Republicans and the state Chamber of Commerce, which supported his election and the Lake Erie legislation, Kasich said the lake "is an incredible resource that demands our vigilant stewardship to maximize its environmental, recreational and commercial potential for Ohioans." The bill, he said, "lacks clear standards for conservation and withdrawals and does not allow for sufficient evaluation and monitoring of withdrawals or usage.

ODNR News Releases - Executive Director of the Ohio Lake Erie ...

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Ohio's Lake Erie Wineries

Lake Erie, a pictorial history

Ohio's Lake Erie vacationland, in vintage postcards

Lake Erie and Ohio river ship canal, Report of the provisional committee of the Chamber of commerce of Pittsburgh, Pa

Lake Erie--Ohio River Canal, memorandum for the information of local interests who may be affected by the project