The Department of Environmental Quality has issued a water withdrawal permit to the Genesee County Drain Commission (GCDC) for a large quantity withdrawal of 85 million gallons per day from Lake Huron to serve as a public water supply source for Genesee County, the city of Flint and customer municipalities in Lapeer, Sanilac, Saginaw, and Shiawassee counties.  These communities are currently served through the Detroit municipal water system.

Under Michigan law, a person who intends to make a large quantity withdrawal of over 2 million gallons per day is required to submit a permit application for a proposed withdrawal that includes information related to the location and source of the withdrawal, the nature of the proposed use, and estimates of water use on a monthly and annual basis.

On February 12, 2009, the DEQ received a permit application from the GCDC requesting an evaluation for the proposed water withdrawal from Lake Huron.  The permit application was provided a 45-day public notice period and was reviewed under the framework of the Great Lakes Charter.  In keeping with the spirit of regional cooperation at the foundation of the Great Lakes Compact and Agreement, the application was also made available for review by the other Great Lakes States and Provinces, as well as the Great Lakes Tribes and First Nations.

Following an extensive analysis of the information submitted by GCDC, as well as the public comments that were provided, it was ultimately determined that GCDC adequately met the Great Lakes Protection Act requirements and addressed the various issues received during the public notice period.

The permit issued today requires that all customer municipalities that will use this system certify compliance with the environmentally sound and economically feasible water conservation measures of the Safe Drinking Water Act prior to beginning construction of the system.  These measures assure that the waters of the state are used in an efficient and non-wasteful manner.

For more information, go to http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3313_3684_45331_49260-220911--,00.html or contact the DEQ's Water Bureau at 517-241-1415.

Editor's note:  DEQ news releases are available on the department's Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

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