From the Conservation Voters mailing list:

THIS IS IT! A final draft of the Great Lakes Compact bill will be released tomorrow at 11:00 am, and a hearing on the bill has already been scheduled for THIS THURSDAY!

As you may have heard, last week, the Speaker of the Assembly, Rep.
Huebsch, along with Rep. Gunderson, put out a press release opposing
even a BASELINE Compact. They would rather see the entire Compact
re-negotiated, throwing years of negotiations between the 8 Great
Lakes states out the window and leaving our Great Lakes vulnerable to
water diversions and lawsuits. Clearly, leaders in the Assembly are
out of touch with what the citizens of Wisconsin want--a STRONG Great
Lakes Compact that protects the Great Lakes from diversions!

Poll Indicates 80% Support For Great Lakes Compact

A poll commissioned by Wisconsin conservation groups, conducted by the UW Survey Center and released Monday, indicates 80% support statewide for adoption of the Great Lakes Compact.

That's good news for advocates of the Compact, and for backers of strong water conservation policy in Wisconsin and across the Great Lakes.

Details provided by the environmental group Clean Wisconsin to the Superior Daily Telegram indicate widespread bi-partisan support for a strong version of the Compact, with pro-Compact sentiment also measured both near the Great Lakes, and in communities far from the Great Lakes basin in Wisconsin, too.

Among the poll findings, as reported by the Daily Telegram:

"• 86 percent say it is important to provide further oversight and regulation before bottling and selling Great Lakes water.

Lobby Legislators For A Strong Great Lakes Compact Jan. 30

The annual Conservation Lobby Day - - when citizen-lobbyists swarm the State Capitol on behalf of progressive energy, environmental and conservation issues - - takes place this year on Wednesday, January 30th.

Here is a link to the best approach to take with legislators on the Great Lakes Compact, along with other information about the day and how to participate.

And another link from the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters, with additional registration information, is here.

Dave Dempsey is one of the Great Lakes most credible, prolific writers and activists, and he thinks the Wisconsin DNR is treading on thin ice if it thinks it can approve a diversion of Lake Michigan water to New Berlin without the approval of all eight Great Lakes states.

As others, including then-Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlater have pointed out, it's a matter of federal law.

Details here.

I detail here, using Wisconsin's open records law, how the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources argues that a 21-year-old federal statute controlling how water can be diverted from the Great Lakes doesn't necessarily apply to the agency.

To make matters worse, major media in Wisconsin will not disclose a lengthy Wisconsin Attorney General opinion that documents just how and why the law does apply to Wisconsin.