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In "Great Lakes for Sale: From Whitecaps to Bottlecaps," Dave Dempsey makes a case for a regional effort to make sure these waters are not for sale to or controlled by interests outside the region. While a system holding 18 percent of the world's -- 95 percent of the US -- fresh surface water supply may never be pumped dry, Dempsey worries its water level could be tragically lowered by those who would export to thirsty neighbors, domestic and foreign.

Dempsey comes from Michigan, which he points out is surrounded by three of the Great Lakes. And he sees the lakes as one of the state's greatest treasures. "Michigan's economic future and its health rests on attracting people to live and work here rather than shipping the water to where people now are," Dempsey said in an interview with Dome, the University of Michigan's online magazine.

From Rustbelt to Sunbelt
Dempsey points to Sunbelt governors, including New Mexico's Governor Bill Richardson, as covetous of Great Lakes waters for their booming population and economic growth. He sees a zero sum game, where the Rustbelt's Great Lakes treasure is exported to the Sunbelt.

To his credit, Dempsey acknowledges that the Great Lakes watershed is continuously replenished, with the rare exception of a dry year. More critically, however, Dempsey only skims over the fact that the Great Lakes region, with its declining populations, continues to use more water than parched but growing Southwestern states. Those living in an area of abundant water have been far less inclined to conserve water, such as installing toilets that use less water.

A Threat by Bottle, Truck or Pipeline
Dempsey proclaims a passionate belief that Great Lakes waters should be kept in the region. He sees bottling, trucking or pipelining of the water to other states or countries as a violation of 200 hundred years of public trust.

He provides a detailed history of the complicated nature of Great Lakes conservation and economic forces. Sometimes conservationists set the agenda and other times corporate interests do so.

He cites a Nestle Corporation public relations campaign in support of bottling Great Lakes water as an illustration of how corporate interests can reframe the argument for selling Great Lakes water. Somehow what goes out in little Perrier-sized bottles seems less offensive to the public than running a giant aqueduct from Michigan to New Mexico.

Dempsey sees the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as a possible threat to his cherished lakes. Certain provisions could allow the Great Lakes to be considered a commodity in some foreign trade agreements.

According to Dempsey's analysis of legal and political efforts, private interests, whether foreign or national, pose a threat for Great Lakes conservation. So far, they have been unsuccessful but he worries about how long this will be the case.

For Political Junkies
For such a thin book (just 107 pages including end notes), Dempsey devotes an overabundance of space to local Michigan politics.

He joined Democrat Michigan Governor Blanchard's staff in 1983, and he shares the sort of detailed blow-by-blow account of political process that only a political junkie could follow. He also displays an obvious distrust of commerce and places great faith in the protective powers of government.

Is Water the Next Oil?
Dempsey cites a Bloomberg News item from July 3, 2006, which describes how T. Boone Pickens, the Texas hedge fund manager and oilman, spent $50 million for water rights around his 24,000 acre North Texas ranch. "He compared the demand for water to China's purchases of oil fields from Canada to Kazakhstan, saying, ‘I'd be the same about water.'"

So could Michigan and the rest of Great Lakes water basin become the Saudi Arabia of water? That would be Dempsey's worst nightmare.

The book is available on Amazon.com, click here for more information.

Don Dunnington