THE ISSUE
Anyone who visits Wisconsin's western shores of Lake Michigan probably does not stay too long (especially the further south one goes) and going into the water is more often than not a questionable act. From Milwaukee through Chicago, one is lucky to avoid all the dead alewives that have washed up on shore and add to that "stinky lake" smell.

As part of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan is a part of the largest body of freshwater anywhere in the world. As such, it is easily consumed by humans and provides a great source of fishing and recreation that is hard to come by anywhere else. Unfortunately, human interaction has degraded the lake to the point where for a number of years, scientists have been trying to "fix" the lake and keep it a healthy ecosystem. Easier said than done.

There are also a growing number of issues concerning the use of the water in the Great Lakes. Specifically in Wisconsin, the issue is over the use of water in Lake Michigan. This is also complicated because the Great Lakes are bordered by both the U.S. and Canada, therefore both governments must act together concerning decisions about the Great Lakes.


FISH POPULATIONS
There exist in Lake Michigan native and exotic species. Native means a fish that have developed and always been in the lake and has a place in a predatory chain. Exotic has the meaning of non-native, meaning that is a species that has been introduced into the lake at some prior point but has adapted to be able to live and thrive in the lake since its introduction and generally has no natural predators. This means that it is very difficult to control exotic populations.

Some species native to Lake Michigan include:

• Sturgeon
• Lake Trout
• White Perch
• Yellow Perch
• Walleyes
• Whitefish
• Chubs
• Smelt
• Lake Herring
  

Some species that are non-native, or exotic, to Lake Michigan include:

• Zebra Mussels
• Brown Trout
• Rainbow Trout
• Chinook Salmon
• Coho Salmon
  
• Quagga Mussels
• Sea Lampreys
• Gobies
• Alewives
  

Some of these species may sound more familiar than others, and correctly so since some of them (zebra & quagga mussels) have received much media attention in the past few years due to their destructive nature and introduction through improperly disposed of ballast water in shipping traffic.

Not all exotic species have been accidentally introduced. Alewives have been a dominant force in lake since their introduction from the Atlantic coast through the Welland Canal in 1949. If the word "alewife" doesn't sound familiar, you would probably know these as the fish that are always washed up dead on the Western shores of the lake (i.e. the Wisconsin coastline). There is usually a large rift of them that beach-goers have to climb over (through, if you like) in order to get into the water on hot days. There are a number of reasons associated with the alewife die-off that causes this, including but not limited to their delicate saltwater structure and environmental changes in the lake.

Throughout the 1960's, several species were introduced to try and control the alewife populations with mixed results. Both the Coho and Chinook Salmon were introduced this way and now support much of the fishing industry on the lake.

Zebra mussels are highly criticized in Lake Michigan for decimating fish populations. They are a non-native species, thought to be native to the Caspian Sea and introduced into the Great Lakes by shipping traffic (both by attaching themselves to vessels and in ballast water). The mussels feed on zooplankton and phytoplankton, which provide the basis for other species to grow and feed larger species (i.e. fish) in the lake. Zebra mussels effectively consume all of the nutrients in freshwater and ultimately starve other populations in the lake because there are no organisms and food that can grow without the zooplankton and phytoplankton. For the layperson, it's kind of like if someone goes through a kitchen and eats all the rice, milk, sugar, flower, eggs, butter, etc. and then there aren't the basic ingredients left to make a meal to actually feed the people trying to use the kitchen. Unfortunately for fish in Lake Michigan, Jimmy Johns is not an option when there's nothing to eat in the kitchen so they starve.

CLEAN WATER ACT AND LAKE MICHIGAN
The passage of the federal Clean Water Act in 1972 mandated (among other things) the creation of municipal sewage districts, meaning municipalities could no longer dump their waste into the lake. Rather, it had to be treated and dealt with in a way that would not compromise the lake. The aim of this legislation was to curb water pollution in the U.S., which is why some refer to the act as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. What this did was effectively give the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authority over all waste water from industry and actually funded most of the sewage treatment plants that we have today. The Clean Water Act also made it unlawful to discharge any pollutant or poison from a point source into navigable waters. However, this did not account for non-point source pollutants, meaning that some pollutants could make their way into bodies of water were they unable to be tracked back to a specific firm.

In terms of Lake Michigan, the Clean Water Act provided a first step towards helping the lake overcome decades of pollution and population problems. By preventing hazardous waste from entering the lake, now the lake was in a better situation to help correct itself without being constantly pummeled by excessive human wastes that it was not ecologically able to handle. It also helped take care of "that smell" that many people have come to associate with Lake Michigan.

GREAT LAKES WATER ACT (also Great Lakes Critical Program Act)
Started in 1990, funding was actually sought to try and help save Lake Michigan. The goal behind this program was not only to help stop any further degradation in and to the lake, but also to try and reintroduce native species into the lake, hoping that it would start to balance things out and get the lake on a path toward restoration.

In terms of fish populations, this started by trying to reintroduce Walleyes to the lake. Unfortunately, the salmon present in the lake that were intended to take care of the explosive alewife population have an affinity for baby walleyes and thus reintroducing this species has proved far more difficult than anticipated. But, killing off the salmon is a very unpopular choice, especially since they support much of the fishing industry on the lake. At present, the solution has been to try introducing enough walleye to satisfy the appetites of salmon present in the lake and to also allow them to grow as a population themselves.

GREAT LAKES BASIN BOUNDARY (or a continental divide or the St. Lawrence Seaway Divide)
Call it what you will, most people on the Eastern side of Wisconsin don't give much thought o where they will get their water from. There's a huge body of fresh water directly to the East in the form of Lake Michigan. However, running through Wisconsin is a continental/basin divide (not the continental divide, which is located in the Western part of the U.S.), that determines which direction water will travel and consequently which body of water it will return to once removed.

What this effectively does is create problems in terms of where communities get their water from. East of the boundary, communities can get their water from the lake because it will drain back into the lake and not deplete it of its water inventory. However, west of the boundary, communities cannot use water from the lake, because it will not drain back into the lake, and must find their water elsewhere.

This has become particularly problematic in light of urban development and sprawl that is increasing demand for water away from plentiful sources, or exhausting what resources are available in those remote areas. The issue becomes that established communities away from the lake are nearing exhaustion of groundwater supplies and are knocking on the door of Lake Michigan to get their water. All most people can think about is having water, but geologists and environmentalists raise significant concerns about the basin divide and what precedent implications will arise from allowing communities West of the divide to use water from Lake Michigan.

There are several communities outside of the Milwaukee area that are very active in trying to get water from Lake Michigan to support its growing community. These include Waukesha, Menomonee Falls, Brookfield, Mukwonago, and a number of others. However, there are worries that if water is allowed to be transported across divides, that it will set a large precedent for water-starved communities in the Western U.S., such as Las Vegas.

The issue becomes very complicated because legislation does not cover a lot of gray areas, because multiple state governments, the U.S. Federal government, and Canadian government all can have a say in what happens to the water in the Great Lakes (think: long approval process), and because there is controversy over whether or not it is diverting if the water is returned to the lake.

Suffice it to say that while this is not an entirely new issue, it is expanding in scope and severity. Precedent is a concern because of emerging water issues in the West that may look to the Great Lakes not only for practices but also for water (although that gets a bit complicated). It is very important that Wisconsin act in a responsible way that encourages maintaining the natural balance of water in the state, specifically concerning the use of water from Lake Michigan. While some communities have encouraged residents to be more conservative in their water use, continuing development and not helped the matter much and only serves to complicate it for future discussion.