Bottled Water at Issue in Great Lakes

Water from aquifers that feed Huron and the other Great Lakes is exempted from export regulations when it's in containers of less than 5.7 gallons. (By John L. Russell -- Associated Press)

"How do we decide when water is a product?" she asked. "Under the WTO and NAFTA, there is no obligation for a state to extract its natural resources. The difference comes when it makes the decision to allow an entity to commercialize it and they do commercialize it. Then it is a product and you can't ban the export."

Doug Roberts Jr., director of environmental and energy policy at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, agrees.

"We think it's critical that you are able to make products and ship them all over the world," Roberts said. "That's what you do in a free-market economy. We were very concerned groups would target one product and say that product can't be shipped. What's the difference between bottled water and beer or cherry juice? Those all have water in them."

Nestle is the biggest water bottler in Michigan but not the only one. PepsiCo and Coca-Cola bottle Detroit municipal water for their Aquafina and Dasani brands, respectively. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have water-bottling plants in Quebec and Ontario.

Opponents say Nestle's pumping is lowering water levels in local creeks and lakes -- systems that feed the Great Lakes. In Ontario, a hydrologist hired by a group opposing the Nestle plant reported that the company was using 7 percent of the local water supply and depleting the flow of a creek.

"As long as the bottled-water loophole remains, it's a gaping hole in the Great Lakes Compact that would lead to potentially sucking the Great Lakes dry," said Meera Karunananthan, national water campaigner for the Council of Canadians, a citizen group.

In both Ontario and Michigan, many residents are also angry that Nestle gets the water at low cost, paying the same rate as any other water user. But Terry Swier, president of Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, said she doesn't necessarily want the company to pay for the water. "Then with the financial situation Michigan is in, we would just open up the state to any water bottler," she said. "We have to preserve and protect the waters for future generations."

Flaherty said he doesn't think bottled water, in or out of the Great Lakes basin, should get a bad rap.

"We're one of 70,000 different types of beverages you can buy," he said. "We use the least amount of water and the least amount of plastic, and we're good for you."