Martin David: Water compact could trump mine permit

State Journal reporter Ron Seely's coverage of the Joint Finance Committee hearings on the mining bill has been outstanding.

The proposed iron mine is near the triple-divide between the watersheds of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and the Mississippi. It will use a great deal of water and will be deep enough to be far below the lake level of Lake Superior. This can not help but affect Lake Superior. 

The International Joint Commission water compact between the United States and Canada forbids net water withdrawals from the Great Lakes watersheds.

An example of the way the compact works is the injunction that requires Waukesha not to increase the drawdown of ground water from Lake Michigan. The city is not in the Lake Michigan watershed, so it may not use Lake Michigan groundwater without returning that water to the lake. 

The compact will be violated if a mine is permitted under the mining bill before the Legislature. If the law passes, the hope is that a court injunction forbidding such withdrawals will come swiftly.

- Martin David, Middleton, emeritus professor, UW-Madison and Nelson Institute