Ways considered to thwart Great Lakes water sales

WASHINGTON — The Great Lakes have so much water that even during low levels, manufacturers, electricity plants, drinking water systems and other users remain able to draw out 55 billion gallons a day.

About 95 percent of that water remains in the Great Lakes basin through means such as return of treated wastewater, evaporation and precipitation, a recent U.S.-Canadian study found. Now, governments on both sides of the border are considering requiring a 95 percent return to protect the lakes' future.

But denying water to "outsiders'' may hurt Great Lakes area industries and violate international trade agreements. For example, if a can of water-based paint made in Ohio is legal to sell in the United States and export to Canada, how could it legally be denied to an importer in Britain or some other U.S. trading partner?

And is lake water itself a commodity that should be freely bought and sold by partners in a free-trade agreement?

"It's a murky area,'' said Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who's been one of the loudest voices on Capitol Hill in favor of blocking international sale of Great Lakes water. "It's not real clear in GATT (the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) whether water can be treated as a commodity.''

Businesses are closely following efforts under way in Ontario, Quebec, eight American states and on Capitol Hill to put some kind of ''Keep Out'' sign on the Great Lakes.

''Industry is here because industry needs water,'' said George H. Kuper, president of the Council of Great Lakes Industries. ''In some products, the water goes into the can and gets sent to you and me.''

Demand for water is forecast by the World Bank to double in the next two decades, with 52 countries predicted to have water shortages by 2025. The International Joint Commission, the U.S.-Canadian body that advises the two nations on boundary waters issues, spent a year studying exportation. It concluded that trade law allows nations to protect their natural resources, so long as environmental measures aren't devised in a way that deliberately hampers trade.

In addition to the water taken from the Great Lakes daily for industrial and municipal purposes, about 845 billion gallons are used for hydropower production. But virtually all of that water is returned immediately to the body from which it came.