Jenny R. Kehl, Lynde B. Uihlein Endowed Chair in Water Policy and founding director of the Center for Water Policy in the UW-Milwaukee School of Fresh Water Sciences, considers the ongoing water crisis in Flint, Mich., to be a critical example of what can go wrong when water politics and economic influences collide. The water contamination calamity, which could have occurred in other cities across the country, effectively imparted the notion that the general public and government officials could not wait until the next crisis to make water safety a priority. With the lessons of Flint in mind, Kehl recently took the time to discuss her current projects with the Center for Water Policy, possible economic opportunities for Wisconsin and the effects of climate change on the Great Lakes.
What projects are you currently working on at the Center for Water Policy?
I am currently working on three projects and they are on water efficiency and agriculture, because most of the world’s water used for human consumption is for agriculture ... I’m also working on climate change in the Great Lakes, because it is a large system, but it’s very fragile and climate change is going to disrupt that system. I’m looking at what some of the economic and political impacts of climate change in the Great Lakes will be. And then I’m looking at transboundary water disputes—disputes over large water systems and lakes that are shared between many countries. I’m looking at how they’re going to manage the competition for that scarce shared resource and trying to put some measure into place to help avoid those resource conflicts from becoming violent.
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Could you share more about your Great Lakes project?
I am looking at how climate change is going to affect the quality of water in the Great Lakes system and how that will affect the water users … The second thing I’m looking at is how climate change nationwide is going to affect the politics and economics of the Great Lakes states. For example, I’m looking at drought in Texas and drought in California and I’m looking at how those droughts and climate change are going to move large scale agricultural interest here to the Great Lakes region because we have such a wealth of water. And that is really an important part of the project because people need to put the pieces together about how the droughts in California and Texas are going to [shift] demand to the Great Lakes.
How would you say the general public is doing grappling with or being mindful of these issues?
I think there is great value placed on the Great Lakes and I think there is a sense of shared responsibility to care for the Great Lakes and that’s very positive and important. But I think that there is a lack of understanding about how fragile the ecosystem is and how disrupted it already is and how much more of a commitment we need to make to stewarding our resources responsibly.
What do you mean by “disrupted?”
Well, toxic runoff is a good example. There is a lot of runoff in the Great Lakes system. Because the system is so large, I think there is a perception that a little pollution doesn’t do a lot of damage, but it’s actually the opposite. It’s a lot of pollution and it is deeply destructive. It’s always best for natural systems to be maintained as natural as possible, and my call for action is that if it’s toxic don’t put it in the water. But I think we’ve been doing so much of that through the Great Lakes and river systems and we need to be more careful about what we put into the lakes.
How do you see these agricultural issues unfolding at a regional level in the next 20 to 30 years?
I think that is the most critical thing for us to think about. How are we going to absorb the business and agriculture coming in from other particularly drought-stricken, climate-changed areas because we’re so fortunate to have a lot of good-quality water here? That abundance is going to be useful in attracting large-scale agriculture and bringing business here, but it needs to be managed in a way that is beneficial and sustainable. I think that in order for us to do this we need to be aware that this transition is coming.
