SF 72

as introduced - 84th Legislature, 2005 1st Special Session (2005 - 2005) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                             A resolution
  1.2             memorializing the United States Secretary of State to 
  1.3             refer the Devil's Lake outlet to the International 
  1.4             Joint Commission. 
  1.5      
  1.6      WHEREAS, the informed use, management, and protection of 
  1.7   water resources is a high priority to the State of Minnesota; 
  1.8   and 
  1.9      WHEREAS, the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty and the 
  1.10  International Joint Commission have guided the United States and 
  1.11  Canada in the management of shared waters for nearly a century; 
  1.12  and 
  1.13     WHEREAS, the State of North Dakota is constructing, without 
  1.14  appropriate environmental assessment and safeguards, a Devils 
  1.15  Lake outlet that would divert water from Devils Lake into the 
  1.16  Cheyenne and Red Rivers and ultimately into Minnesota and 
  1.17  Canadian waters; and 
  1.18     WHEREAS, the Boundary Waters Treaty provides the framework 
  1.19  for approving projects that affect transboundary waters and 
  1.20  assists the two countries with the protection of the 
  1.21  transboundary environment, including critical fish and wildlife 
  1.22  resources; and 
  1.23     WHEREAS, the Devils Lake outlet project would affect 
  1.24  transboundary waters and is therefore subject to the Boundary 
  1.25  Waters Treaty; and 
  2.1      WHEREAS, the International Joint Commission is established 
  2.2   to prevent and resolve disputes between the United States and 
  2.3   Canada under the Boundary Waters Treaty; and 
  2.4      WHEREAS, the Minnesota Legislature is concerned that the 
  2.5   process to date has not respected the authority of the Boundary 
  2.6   Waters Treaty and consequently, has threatened the stature of 
  2.7   the Boundary Waters Treaty and the International Joint 
  2.8   Commission and compromised United States - Canada relations; and 
  2.9      WHEREAS, a number of states and provinces, including 
  2.10  Minnesota, Missouri, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec, as well as 
  2.11  the government of Canada, have expressed concern with the impact 
  2.12  of the Devils Lake outlet on downstream waters, including 
  2.13  prospective water pollution and the transfer of invasive 
  2.14  species; and 
  2.15     WHEREAS, legislators of the State of Minnesota believe that 
  2.16  an understanding of the environmental and economic implications 
  2.17  of any transboundary diversion is essential; and 
  2.18     WHEREAS, the Minnesota Legislature believes that it is 
  2.19  essential that the examination of the environmental and economic 
  2.20  impacts of the Devils Lake project be conducted in the spirit of 
  2.21  multistate and binational cooperation and in a thorough and 
  2.22  objective manner by a credible party; and 
  2.23     WHEREAS, the State of Minnesota, members of Minnesota's 
  2.24  Congressional delegation, the governments of Canada, Manitoba, 
  2.25  Missouri, Ontario, and Quebec, and members of the Great Lakes 
  2.26  Commission have previously expressed to the Secretary of State 
  2.27  of the United States of America their longstanding concerns with 
  2.28  the Devils Lake outlet project; and 
  2.29     WHEREAS, these concerns include concerns about interbasin 
  2.30  water transfers, the precedent for which threatens all of 
  2.31  Minnesota's abundant water resources, including Lake Superior; 
  2.32  NOW, THEREFORE, 
  2.33     BE IT RESOLVED that the Minnesota Legislature urges the 
  2.34  United States Secretary of State to refer the Devils Lake outlet 
  2.35  dispute to the International Joint Commission to undertake a 
  2.36  credible and objective assessment of the environmental impacts 
  3.1   of this interstate and transboundary water diversion; and 
  3.2      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Minnesota Legislature 
  3.3   urges the United States Secretary of State to ensure that the 
  3.4   Devils Lake outlet does not operate until the International 
  3.5   Joint Commission has completed its assessment and governments in 
  3.6   the United States and Canada have had an opportunity to review 
  3.7   the Commission's recommendations; and 
  3.8      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of 
  3.9   Minnesota that it urges its members to write to the United 
  3.10  States Secretary of State to communicate the intention of this 
  3.11  resolution; NOW, THEREFORE, 
  3.12     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
  3.13  State of Minnesota is directed to prepare copies of this 
  3.14  resolution and transmit them to the United States Secretary of 
  3.15  State and the International Joint Commission.