Groundwater Conservation Advisory Council

1. Groundwater Conservation Advisory Council Final Report Recommendations and Observations February 21, 2006

2. Participants Rod Mersino Mersino Dewatering, Inc. James Clift Michigan Environmental Council Jon Coleman Tri-County Regional Planning Commission Michael Newman Michigan Aggregates Association Craig Hoffman The Rock on Drummond Island Paul Seelbach (non-voting) Dept of Natural Resources Michael R. Gregg (non-voting) Michigan Department of Agriculture Jon Allan (co-chair) Consumers Energy Company Kurt Heise (co-chair) Wayne County Dept of Environment Jim Cleland (co-chair) (non-voting) Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Thomas Newhof Prein and Newhof Alan Steinman Annis Water Resources Institute Grand Valley State University Fred Henningsen District Agriculture and Irrigation Agent Emeritus, Michigan State University

3. Acknowledgements • We acknowledge our respective organizations or institutions that underwrote our participation on the Council. • We are very gratefully for the assistance of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Michigan Water Science Center and in particular Director Jim Nicholas and his capable, insightful staff. • Thank you to: • Jim Bredin, MDEQ Office of Great Lakes for providing insight into the Annex Process and the 2001 Implementation Agreements. • To the House, Senate and Administration that provided us the forum and time to take such a deliberative approach to these complex and charged issues. • To all of the many, many others that provided guidance and council and encouragement to us in our deliberations.

4. General Comments • This was an outreach effort and a collaborative process. • Operated in a open manner but respectful of developing (and changing) ideas and positions. • This is a Consensus Report! • No Minority Opinions … • Contains a mix of background, science and policy recommendations. • Allowed the water policy debate to mature to point(s) of consensus over the past three years

5. Recommendations • Guiding Principles • Five Key Areas of Recommendations • Sustainability of Groundwater • Monitoring and Reporting • Monitor Annex 2001 Implementation • Conservation • Adverse Effects, and Science and Research • Conflict Resolution

6. Recommendations Sustainability of Groundwater: Sustainable use of Michigan’s groundwater resources means (1) meeting the needs of the present while not compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs and (2) recognizing that sustainable use encompasses environmental, economic, and social systems and their contribution to meeting human needs. • Recommendation 2 - Develop criteria and indicators for sustainability of Michigan’s groundwater SB 851 • Recommendation 3 - Develop and implement a program to determine the current status of indicators and track future changes. Outgrowth of SB 851

7. Recommendations Monitoring and Reporting: • Recommendation 4 - Develop a statewide groundwater level monitoring network. • Leverage on-going monitoring and former statewide network • Specify which monitoring is a state need and which is a local need. • Fund state needs and provide matching or start-up funds for local needs. Not Addressed • Recommendation 5 - Prioritize and fund basic 3-dimensional geologic mapping of glacial deposits. Not Addressed • Recommendation 6 - Fund and staff the Water Use Reporting Program. Encourage full reporting from all use sectors that are in the Program. SB 852

8. Recommendations Monitor Annex 2001 implementation: • Recommendation 7 – “Passage of new legislation that is very similar to legislation being considered by the Michigan Legislature in January 2006 would significantly move Michigan forward toward statutory conformance with Annex 2001.”

9. Recommendation 7 (continued)

10. Recommendation 7 (continued)

11. Recommendations Conservation: Where “conservation … includes both efficient use and also the protection of quality” Stewardship - Sustainability - Efficiency Recommendation 10 – “Water-use sector(s)” should develop sector-specific water management practices. • Should be reviewed and evaluated by a professional or trade association. • Water users within each sector should be encouraged to adopt and implement the water-management practices specific to their sector. SB 852 and SB 850

12. Recommendations Adverse Impact, and Science and Research: • Recommendation 11 - Develop assessment tool that identifies aquatic ecosystems at potential risk from large individual or cumulative groundwater withdrawals. Generally in SB 851 • Recommendation 12A - Support research on dependence of Michigan’s aquatic ecosystems on groundwater. Not Addressed • Target at-risk species and areas of current or future large groundwater withdrawals. • Recommendation 12B - Implement a statewide field inventory program for aquatic ecosystems. Not Addressed • The inventory should include a range of aquatic animals and plants, and must be strongly linked to groundwater, hydrologic setting and geomorphic setting. • Recommendation 12C - Conduct experiments where groundwater is withdrawn to understand cause and effect between groundwater withdrawal and potential individual and cumulative impacts on aquatic ecosystems. Not Addressed

13. Recommendations Conflict Resolution • Recommendation 13 - The language in PA 177 should be modified to allow for conflicts when withdrawals do not exceed recharge, for example, “...that continued groundwater withdrawals from a high-capacity well will adversely impact low-capacity wells in the area ...” Not addressed • Appendix B of Report - Recommendations submitted in June relative to Act 177 • Some statutory changes still needed – two major ones addressed in the new legislation • Next report to the Legislature due on April 1, 2006

14. Recommendations Groundwater Inventory and Map • Michigan should provide for the maintenance and enhancement of the maps and data compiled in Groundwater Inventory and Map and Inventory. Needed maintenance and enhancements are summarized below, based upon the GWIM project team’s final report. Not addressed • Michigan should invest the necessary resources to maintain and enhance Groundwater Inventory and Map Not addressed