711.4216 M 58/55
The British Ambassador (Howard) to the Secretary of State
Sir: I have the honor to refer to your note of the 13th instant, and to inform you that the Government of Canada have observed that public hearings have recently been held by the War Department in Washington on an application made by the Sanitary District of Chicago for permission to increase the quantity of water which that District is now permitted to divert from Lake Michigan under authority [Page 560] of the Secretary of War and that the question whether, in accordance with the recommendation of the Chief Engineer, the amount permitted to be diverted should, under certain conditions, be increased to 8,500 cubic feet per second instead of 4,167 cubic feet per second, to which the Sanitary District is limited under a recent judgment of the Supreme Court of the United States, was also considered.
The Dominion Government now desire me to state that, while they would not wish to oppose any interim measure which may be necessary to protect the health of the inhabitants of the city of Chicago, they feel compelled to reiterate the protest they have already made against the abstraction of water from the St. Lawrence basin12 and, in order that there may be no misunderstanding, I desire to take this opportunity of making it clear that the Government of Canada do not surrender any claims that might be put forward for consequential losses already suffered or which may possibly be suffered in the future on this account. The Dominion Government are of opinion that it is impossible to lose sight of the fact that the effect of the present increase in permitted diversion of water will be to postpone the relief for which the navigation and other interests injuriously affected by the attitude of the Chicago Sanitary District have been waiting already too long, and which, subject only to the paramount necessity of safeguarding public health, these interests are now entitled to receive.
I feel sure that you will readily appreciate that the injury to Canadian interests by any lowering of the natural level of the Great Lakes connecting waters and the St. Lawrence River by the diminution of their natural water supply is of constantly increasing importance not only on account of navigation on the Great Lakes and lower St. Lawrence River but also on account of power development. The Government of Canada have not failed to recognise that United States interests are likewise substantially affected by this question.
The Government of Canada feel confident that the Government of the United States is fully alive to the advisability of restricting within the narrowest possible limit the amount of water to be diverted from Lake Michigan for use by the Sanitary District of Chicago, and in this connection, they feel certain that no permit will be granted for the diversion of any water not essential to safeguarding the health of the population of that city, and, further, that the period during which such diversion must on this account continue, will be made as short as circumstances permit.
[Page 561]I should be most grateful if you would be so good as to communicate the contents of this note to the interested authorities of the United States Government.
I have [etc.]
- See despatch No. 144, Feb. 13, 1924, from the British Chargé, Foreign Relations, 1924, vol. i, p. 350.↩