Walker, Environmentalists, Spar Over Wider Review Of Lake Diversion Plan

Gov. Scott Walker is throwing cold water on a request to have all the Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces review a Lake Michigan diversion plan that would help the planned Foxconn plant in Racine County.

Environmental groups comprising the Wisconsin Compact Implementation Coalition want the wider review of Racine’s proposal to divert 7 million gallons of water a day to the Foxconn factory. Most of the water would be treated and returned to the lake after use.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is analyzing Racine’s plan to supply lake water to the Village of Mount Pleasant, where the Foxconn plant would be located.

Walker says the request for a regional review is part of a broad attack on the Foxconn project.

“Politically, there’s group after group after group that wants to find ways to undermine that,” Walker said. “But when people look at the facts and realize this is less water usage than Racine had more than 20 years ago, this is well within the confines of the compact.”

What Walker calls “the compact” is the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact finalized in 2008.

Attorney Jodi Habush Sinykin represents the Compact Implementation Coalition. She says the diversion plan violates the requirement that diverted lake water go to a public water supply.

“And our coalition, and others around the region, believe that this lack of compliance with the compact, a key requirement of the compact, is a big enough deal to call for a regional review,” she said.

Peter Johnson, deputy director of the Conference of Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Governors and Premiers, says what’s known as the “regional body” hasn’t made a statement on the environmentalists’ request. The Great Lakes Water Resources Regional Body includes the Great Lakes governors and the premiers of Ontario and Quebec, or their designees.