If you live in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, you know the Great Lakes are the heart and soul of the region. But our lakes are threatened by increasing demands for water throughout the area and around the country.

For those of us living in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the Great Lakes provide drinking water for our cities, bring tourist dollars to our communities, supply recreational opportunities for our families and support a diverse ecosystem of fish and wildlife. But our lakes are threatened by increasing demands for water throughout our region and now around the country as well.

Water currently being siphoned off to feed development in the states surrounding the Great Lakes is endangering the health of the Lakes. Worse yet, out-of-state companies are now developing plans to tap into fresh water sources across the globe - and our Great Lakes are a prime target for their water diversions plans.

In response, the Great Lakes governors have developed "Annex 2001," a proposal that allows Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces to develop strict standards to evaluate proposals for withdrawals of Great Lakes waters. This proposal is a step in the right direction, but it doesn't do enough to protect the Great Lakes for today and tomorrow. As it currently stands, the proposal actually weakens standards for approval of "small-scale" diversions, which, when taken together, could seriously threaten the health of the Great Lakes. Additionally, instead of providing for public input, Annex 2001 includes no ongoing mechanism for individual citizens to speak out about unwise water decisions.

If you live in one of the Great Lakes states, you can help correct the flaws in Annex 2001 and fully protect our region's greatest treasure. Public comments will be accepted through February 28, 2001. Tell your governor to take a strong stand against unmonitored water diversions and make protecting the Great Lakes a top priority. You can email your governor at one of the following addresses:

Illinois, Governor Ryan - governor@state.il.us

Indiana, Governor O'Bannon - fobannon@state.in.us

Michigan, Governor Engler - www.migov.state.mi.us

Minnesota, Governor Ventura - Miscellaneous.GOV@state.mn.us

New York, Governor Pataki - gov.pataki@chamber.state.ny.us

Ohio, Governor Taft - Governor.Taft@das.state.oh.us

Pennsylvania, Governor Ridge - http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Governor/govmail.html

Wisconsin, Governor McCallum - wisgov@gov.state.wi.us