Great Lakes water is too precious not to take every step to preserve it →

The Buffalo News, January 25, 2016

Americans have been tuned in to two environmental disasters in the past year. The municipal water supply in Flint, Mich., was contaminated by lead while residents were assured there was no problem. In water-starved California, the historic drought is not over despite recent heavy rains.

These events show how much we should value our easy access to clean water.

News staff reporter T.J. Pignataro recently wrote about the Canadian businessman who in the late 1990s thought it would be a good idea to ship hundreds of millions of gallons of Great Lakes water in tankers to bone-dry spots around the world.

Alarmed at the possibility of their water being exported, Great Lakes states and provinces devised strict rules to prevent such a situation. Making the rules stick is now mission critical.