Web Meeting Recap: Growing Water Uses in the Great Lakes Basin
How data centers, agriculture and critical minerals mining are driving demand — and how states can respond
The GLLC recently hosted a web meeting to highlight work being done in the basin to anticipate the rising demand for water due to trends such as the expansion of hyperscale data centers, additional irrigation needs brought on by climate shifts, and more mining for critical minerals.
Are existing laws and regulations on water use and management adequate to address these trends? What policy levers are available for states?
These questions and more were explored in the webinar, which featured a presentation by Helena Volzer of the Alliance for the Great Lakes. She is the alliance’s senior source water policy manager and author of a recent report detailing the need for more planning, policy and regulatory actions.
Recommendations from the alliance include:
- funding regional water demand studies;
- better tracking large water users in shared data sources such as the Great Lakes Regional Water Use Database;
- reforming the permitting process for large water users; and
- developing efficiency standards for large water users.
Additionally, the alliance hopes to see states fund groundwater studies and mapping as well as require public disclosure of water and energy use.
As part of the web meeting, Michigan Sen. Rosemary Bayer presented on her state’s existing mechanisms to respond to the growth of data centers, including the rules and process for siting them, and on her plans for future legislation to strengthen transparency and permitting. Sen. Bayer chairs the GLLC Water Use Committee, which has been meeting for the past year to look at legislation across the region on water use. The committee will bring recommendations forward for GLLC jurisdictions to use in order to prepare for increases in water demand.