Michigan Politics
Governor Tackles Bottled Water Issue
By George Weeks

Every year since 1954, Michigan Week has been held in May to celebrate the heritage and attractions of the Water Wonderland. Last week, by coincidence, the state moved to correct a huge gap in regulating one use of this precious resource.

On Friday, Gov. Jennifer Granholm issued an executive directive moratorium on permits and approvals for new or increased bottled water operations in Michigan "until such time as the Legislature passes comprehensive water withdrawal legislation."

She also said the Department of Environmental Quality Friday issued a permit to Nestle's Ice Mountain bottling operation requiring it "to certify – every three months – that spring water from the Evart plant be distributed only within the Great Lakes Basin."

On May 25, Democrat Granholm and Department of Environmental Quality Director Steven Chester announced "the state will begin the process of regulating any groundwater withdrawal that would change the size of a lake, stream or river" – reversing "the policy of the previous administration" that the Ice Mountain bottling plant in Mecosta County did not need to apply for a permit for water withdrawal.

In fact, first word on that came when Republican Attorney General Mike Cox, on behalf of the DEQ, urged the Michigan Court of Appeals to uphold Mecosta County Circuit Judge Lawrence Root's ruling that DEQ's previous position that a permit was not required "was inconsistent with the plain language" of the law.

Traverse City attorney Jim Olson, representing Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, said that aspect and others of Cox's filing were "welcome and timely," especially in view of the recent deal Nestle cut with Evart to tap its water.

But Olson, officials of the Michigan Environmental Council and other environmentalists are not sanguine about how all of this is coming down. They're glad the DEQ admits it blew it when it said in 2001 that the Mecosta operation did not need a permit.

They're concerned, however, about Granholm's tendency to split the difference on controversies; other aspects of the state's balancing act, including how they will play out when the Court of Appeals hears oral arguments June 14 on Nestle's appeal of the circuit court ruling; and what Nestle challenge might come in the federal courts on disallowing export of bottled water out of the Great Lakes basin.

But look at the positive side. I liked the Cox/DEQ assertions that:

• "The State possesses broad authority to regulate activities that affect the waters of the State, which includes the groundwater and surface water within its borders."

• "The Circuit Court correctly applied rules of statutory construction that DEQ's administrative rule definition of 'enlarge or diminish an island lake or stream' was not consistent" with some of the 48 court rulings and 27 statutes that Cox cited in his well-documented brief.

Granholm is correct to spotlight need for legislative action on her proposed Water Legacy Act to provide "a comprehensive framework for managing the withdrawal of our Great Lakes water."

A Cox Challenger?

M. Scott Bowen, former president of the Grand Rapids City Commission and a Granholm appointee as Wyoming District Judge, submitted his resignation from the bench to her "to continue my service to the public in another area."

Chris DeWitt, a Granholm political spokesman who in this case speaks only as a friend of Bowen, 41, says, "one of the options he's looking at is running for AG."

George Weeks is the political columnist for The Detroit News and is syndicated by Superior Features.