This is a special gathering of people who understand and care about our water. And I believe that this conference will bring our progress with Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River to the next level. In fact our efforts remind me of the story of a stone-cutter who was in his basement one day working when his son came down to watch him. The stone-cutter hit the rock time and time again, and finally, on the 200th try, the stone finally broke. When it comes to protecting the health of our water it is the constant attention to detail and hundreds of little steps that bring us success.
Clean water is the most simple necessity of our lives.
This is about more than a natural resource. This is about the fabric of life itself. They are our Grand Canyon. They are our Great Barrier Reef. The Great Lakes have a profound effect on who we are as a people and how we live our lives.