Great Lakes Basin Bulletin

Veto Victory
Congress fulfilled its threat last week and overturned President Bush's veto of a $23 billion water bill. Bush claimed the bill had too many "pork projects" ballooning costs. The price of the Iraq war so far: $1.2 trillion. Read what Michigan's reps said about the bill here.

The Good and the Bad in Illinois
Illinois just passed a law requiring rain sensor technology on all new irrigation systems that will cease to operate when they sense there is sufficient moisture in the soil. (Golf courses and agricultural lands are exempted.) Read more here.

But once again Illinois shows they are a law unto themselves regarding Lake Michigan water diversions. Most Chicago suburbs out of the Great Lakes Basin already receive Lake Michigan water. Now a handful of other inland communities are seeking approval from the Department of Natural Resources to divert Lake Michigan water because their groundwater is an "unreliable source." Click here to read the article.

Barrel Believers
Ann Arbor, Michigan is encouraging residents to install rain barrels to capture stormwater runoff from their homes. The water department will give a modest discount on their new stormwater rates to all homeowners who install a rain barrel. The city now charges four different stormwater rates depending on the amount of impervious surface and the roof size of houses. Read more here!

The power of cheese
Joe Van Groll, a Wisconsin entrepreneur, has developed a technique to refine permeate, a by-product of cheese making, into pure alcohol ethanol at a quarter of the cost needed to make corn ethanol. He also blends raw canola oil with the ethanol to make biodiesel. The biodiesel runs a generator that powers his plant and enables him to sell excess energy to the power company. What do you know? Read more here.