It strengthened cooperation among Great Lakes states that work with two Canadian providences to manage water from the lakes effectively, monitor its use and prevent it from leaving the basin. Plans by a Canadian company in the 1990s to fill up tankers with Great Lakes water and ship it to Asia “was probably the tipping point” for establishing the Great Lakes Compact that went into effect in 2008. “But, you know, every journey begins with a first step and a cash advance, I like to say.”įear of water export has ignited political action before. “This is not going to be easy and it’s not going to happen overnight,” said Wellenkamp. A favorable vote would ask the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative to pursue a new river compact, according to a draft copy of the motion. Proponents say a compact would protect the river’s water levels and ecology, make it easier to coordinate when floods or other disaster strikes and provide a way to resolve conflict among the river states. The others are Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. Those states range from left-leaning states like Minnesota, where the river begins, to thoroughly conservative states like Louisiana, where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The mayors’ support would be just the first step in a lengthy, politically fraught process that would require buy-in from all 10 states along the river and federal approval, experts said. WATCH: Despite owning rights to Colorado River, tribes largely cut off from accessing waterĪ formal compact is still far off. But Wellenkamp worries that conversation around the idea hasn’t stopped. Transporting water from the Mississippi River basin, which drains roughly 40 percent of the continental United States, has always been a long shot that many say isn’t practical or remotely cost-effective. The Southwest has long struggled to find enough water for its growing population in a region prone to drought that climate change is making worse. ![]() “It’s a matter of national security that the Mississippi River corridor remain intact, remain sustainable and remain ecologically and hydrologically healthy.” ![]() “It is the most important working river on earth,” said Wellenkamp. Supporters of a compact hope it will strengthen the region’s collective power around shared goals like stopping water from leaving the corridor. Mayors from cities along the river are expected to vote on whether to support a new compact among the river’s 10 states at this week’s annual meeting of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, according to its executive director Colin Wellenkamp. LOUIS (AP) - Community leaders along the Mississippi River worried that dry southwestern states will someday try to take the river’s water may soon take their first step toward blocking such a diversion.
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