The Aral Sea in central Asia was once famous as the third largest lake in the world. It is now famous for the stark images of rusting hulks of freighters stranded in a toxic dust bowl where fish once swam. The lake is now too toxic and salty for fish and has shrunk in area by more than 60 per cent.

In Pentland's view, the agreement between the governors and premiers places the Great Lakes on a "slippery slope." The comparison to the fate of the Aral Sea is not hyperbole.

For the first time in history, this agreement would open the Lakes to water diversions based on the premise that customers for Great Lakes water from outside the Great Lakes Basin have to be treated equally to those inside the basin. Water takings would happen one permit at a time.

The language of the agreement imposes conditions and claims to be about protecting the waters of the Great Lakes.

But, in reality, the tests of when a diversion is appropriate are subjective. If a user claims that they cannot manage, even with aggressive water conservation measures that can be enough to open the taps.

The agreement claims that any water taken out of the basin must be put back in. But it is simply not possible to replace bulk water transfers within the lake system, or to engage in effective trade-offs between different lake ecosystem components. Moreover, once the waters of the Great Lakes are up for sale, the impact of trade agreements will take over.

What had been a slippery slope will be greased by trade rules.

The Great Lakes already face significant threats to both quantity and quality.

A major factor will be the impacts of climate change. At this point, even with aggressive implementation of Kyoto, growing climatic instability cannot be avoided. Humanity has already changed the chemistry of the global atmosphere, increasing the absolute proportion of greenhouse gases by more than 30 per cent.

This is not reversible except over centuries. So, while we must reduce fossil fuel use at a much more accelerated rate than that to which we are committed under Kyoto, we also have to face the fact that the climate is changing.

Dropping water levels in the lakes will be part of our future. Water shortages and droughts will as well. Deciding in 2004 that it is a good business proposition to allow the transfer of tens of millions of gallons of water a day from the Great Lakes is nothing short of reckless.

It is not too late. Just say "No" to bulk water diversions from the Great Lakes.

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Elizabeth May is the executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada.