Wisconsin's Objectives
for Water Use Efficiency and Conservation
in the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Basin

Background

The Great Lakes are a national treasure and are vital to Wisconsin's health, economy, and the environment. It is therefore critical that the Great Lakes are used sustainably so that water remains at healthy levels supporting our current and future needs.

Photo by E. Judziewicz

In meeting one of the Governors' commitments in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact (Compact), the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River Water Resources Regional Body formally adopted water conservation and efficiency regional objectives on December 4, 2007.

Developing regional objectives is an important first step in improving water conservation and efficiency in the region. Each State and Province will now develop its own water conservation and efficiency objectives, and ultimately, programs tailored specifically for their area of the Great Lakes Basin.

Wisconsin has agreed to be the first of the Great Lakes States to pilot its own adaptation of the Regional Water Use Efficiency and Conservation Objectives. The Department of Natural Resources is working in concert with the Wisconsin Public Service Commission and the Wisconsin Department of Commerce to formulate the State's water conservation and efficiency objectives for the Wisconsin portion of the Great Lakes basin. These objectives will be broad in scope, and will be Wisconsin's adaptation of the regional water conservation and efficiency objectives. The Basin-wide objectives will ultimately help shape the development of a Basin-wide water conservation and efficiency program adopted through separate rule-making.

Development Process

The Wisconsin Draft Objectives have been developed in an open and collaborative process. The three state agencies worked with the Council of Great Lakes Governor's to create a preliminary draft of the objectives which were consistent with the Regional Goals and Objectives. These preliminary objectives were shared and discussed with representatives of Wisconsin's tribal governments and stakeholders. The proposed Wisconsin Draft Objectives reflect the input received from the tribal governments and stakeholders on the preliminary version of the objectives.

The current draft is being made available to the general public for review and comment. It will be revised in response to the comments received and will then be submitted as a final report to the Regional Body.

Wisconsin's Draft Objectives build on the Regional Goals and Objectives adopted in December 2007 by the Regional Body (Great Lakes Governors and Premiers). Wisconsin's Draft Objectives reiterate the Regional Objectives and also supplements each of those objectives with specific statements intended to provide greater specificity as to how Wisconsin will achieve the broader regional objective.

The Wisconsin Draft Objectives will not establish any new programs or requirements. Rather, the Draft Objectives recognize the varied existing statewide efforts regarding water use efficiency and conservation and serve to bring greater strategic focus to the issue. The goals and objectives are broad and comprehensive but they are also intended to be flexible, allowing for adaptive management and recognizing that single policy or management approaches may not be appropriate in all situations. The objectives, once finalized, will serve as a foundation for future development of a water use efficiency and conservation program.

Comments

Comments pertaining to the Draft Objectives were accepted through August 15, 2008 and are available for public viewing. The comment period has closed.

If you have questions on the submission of comments or the objectives, contact Deb Lyons-Roehl at (608) 267-9350.

Next Steps

Following the close of the public comment period, all of the comments will be compiled and shared with other members of the interagency group developing the objectives. The Draft Objectives will be revised as appropriate and then shared again with the Tribal governments and Stakeholder groups before the objectives are finalized. A report will be submitted to the Regional Body of the Great Lakes Governors and Premiers.