>> Wherever Foxconn
locates, proximity to a vast
water source would be key.
Our partners at WisContext did
some digging on just what's
required and just what the rules
are for where the company would
most easily get the water.
We went to the shores of Lake
Michigan in Racine to talk with
journalist Scott Gordon.
Scott, how much water do expects
think this kind of manufacturing
process would take?
>> I have seen estimates
of up to 15.8 million gallons
of water per day.
Manufacturing electronics
is a pretty water-intensive
process, and the manufacturer
of LCD screens is
pretty water-intensive, too.
>> What are the specific rules
under the Great Lakes Compact
for who can take
Lake Michigan water?
>> The terms which they do that
are going to depend in large
part on location.
The line of the Great Lakes
basin sort of dictates a lot of
how that works.
If you are within this sort of
borderline of the Great Lakes
basin, then you have access to
that, and if you are in a
straddling community where part
of your city boundaries or
whatever are inside the basin
and part are out, then you can
get access to that.
If you are in a county that
straddles, but the community
itself is outside the line,
then you can ask
the Great Lakes Compact Council
for a diversion and go through
the process that the City of
Waukesha recently went through.
It all depends on location.
If they want to use Lake
Michigan water, chances are they
are going to work for a location
in the community that straddles
the Great Lakes basin where you
have access of that.
>> If you are not
fully within the Great Lakes
basin, if you are in an area
that as you say straddles that
basin dividing line, then you
can take this water and use as
much of it as you need?
>> Not necessarily as much of it
as you need.
If you create a consumptive use
of the water, meaning you can't
restore that resource back into
the basin over a certain
threshold, then that triggers
a review of what you're doing
under the Great Lakes Compact--
which isn't necessarily a
binding thing, but it certainly
invites a bit more scrutiny.
>> It triggers a
review but not necessarily a
vote of all the Great Lakes
governors as did the Waukesha
water diversion.
>> Exactly.
>> Under the special
session bill that's going
through the Legislature right
now, written into that
legislation is a streamlining of
environmental protections at the
very least; Is that right?
>> Yes, to say the least.
The plan in any case would have
to comply with federal
environments, regulations and
state environmental regulations
technically.
They are waiving requirements
for wetlands and other things,
and waiving the requirement for
Foxconn to submit an
environmental impact statement
before beginning construction
which has people have said is
one of the main tools that the
state uses to kind of get ahead
of environmental problems at a
given project site.
The Great Lakes Compact gives
states discretion as to how they
implement the compact within
their borders, and the special
session bill is essentially
streamlining that as well.
>> Is there ever any
danger of sucking too much water
out of Lake Michigan?
>> That's kind of a hard
question to answer.
People are supposed to be
putting back to a large extent
the water they are using from
the Great Lakes basin, but they
are permitted a bit of
consumptive use so it's not like
they're replenishing every
single drop, and the natural
recharge of the Lakes is about
1% of their volume per year.
That's why people have the
agreements in place to sustain
that resource, and there is
some concern that more and more
companies will be attracted to
the Midwest by the resource,
especially as they look around
the world and see parts of the
world and parts of the United
States that are really
struggling with
the sustainability of the water
resources, and the analyst who
gave that 15.8 million-gallon
estimate also said that he
anticipates more electronics
manufacturers will be drawn to
this region in part because of
this.
>> It's a very good
thing for economic development
but a very fragile thing given
the resource that is here on
just off the shore.
>> Right.
It's interesting because a lot
of the agreements and
regulations that people have
around the Great Lakes like the
Great Lakes compact were kind of
born in part out of this fear
that outsiders would come into
the region and, you know, divert
these resources, and there was a
great outrage in the late '90s
about a company in Canada that
wanted to take millions of
gallons of Great Lakes water and
ship it to Asia, and now we have
possibly a lot more interest in
foreign, or at least out of the
region, companies coming in
establishing a footprint here,
in part to take advantage
of the resources.
>> I was joined by
Scott Gordon of WisContext.
You can find his
and other in-depth reporting
by going to WisContext.Org.