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Strategic plan targets invasive species
The Superior Daily Telegram (11/17)
Douglas County’s Land Conservation Committee is forwarding a plan to the county board that takes aim at invasive species.
Mich. Clean Marina Program: Public-private partners work together to improve water quality
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner (11/9)
Partners from the public and private sector in Michigan are working together in a voluntary program to improve the quality of the Great Lakes.
Researchers seek funding for wind test site in Lake Michigan
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner (11/7)
In a recent article in The Muskegon Chronicle, it was reported that researchers at Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC) cited a lack of year-around data (on wind platform testing) needed by prospective development companies.
COMMENTARY: Senate needs to pass clean energy act to help Michigan
The Grand Rapids Press (10/26)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was absolutely correct with his recent proclamation about the current condition of the Great Lakes State: "The State of Michigan," Reid declared from the Senate Floor, with a copy Time Magazine in his hand, "is in trouble."
First Nation women 'walk the environmental talk'
WeNews (10/23)
Tomorrow's global day of climate activism aims for media and political attention. First Nation women have another way. Since 2003, they've walked the shoreline of a Great Lake or major river, meditating on the needs of an unborn generation.
City making big push for water school
The Business Journal (10/23)
The push is on to convince the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee that the best location for its new School of Freshwater Sciences is near the university’s existing Great Lakes Water Institute on East Greenfield Avenue.
What's going on in your neighborhood this month? Meet other people and learn together at recreational and educational events! Our new dynamic calendar is updated daily with current educational events.
4 | Dilution is NOT the solution!
At one time, many people believed that water was capable of diluting toxic substances to the point of rendering them harmless. However, we have since learned that this is not the case, especially in regards to POPs, which persist in bodies of water -- no matter how diluted they are -- and accumulate in the food chain. The United States and Canada realized that the health of the Great Lakes could be best achieved through cooperation, and since the 1970s both countries have been working toward a cleaner Great Lakes system.
Water quality legislationThe International Joint Commission (IJC), created as a result of the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909, conducted studies on the water quality of the Great Lakes in the 1960s, determining that excessive phosphorus was causing eutrophication in the Great Lakes, particularly in lakes Ontario and Erie.
In response to the IJC study, the United States and Canada signed the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) in 1972. GLWQA established pollution control levels (mainly to reduce phosphorus levels in lakes Ontario and Erie), binational water quality research and monitoring efforts.
In 1978, the Agreement was renewed to reduce the phosphorus levels for all of the Great Lakes and called for the elimination of all POPs discharging into the lakes. This amended agreement focused on the Great Lakes as a connected system and established an objective to restore and maintain "the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem."
The United States and Canada most recently renewed the GLWQA in 1987, this time focusing on NPS pollution, contaminated sediments and airborne pollutants. New management approaches also were established, including Remedial Action Plans (RAPs) and Lakewide Management Plans (LaMPs). RAPs focus on the 43 (now 42) geographic Areas of Concern, and LaMPs are designed to improve the environmental quality of the open waters of each of the Great Lakes, with a particular focus on critical pollutants.
The IJC publishes biennial reports on how well the United States and Canada are following the regulations and goals established in the GLWQA. The most recent report in 2000, while acknowledging that the two countries have done much to control point source pollution of toxic chemicals, criticized both countries for their failure to control the rise of contaminated sediments and airborne pollutants, which are both caused by toxic chemicals and lead to many wildlife and human health problems.
Other legislation and government organizations impacting the water quality of the Great Lakes include the following:
United States
- Clean Water Act of 1972 and 1977
- National Environmental Protection Act (1969)
- Great Lakes Toxic Substances Control Agreement (1986)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- EPA-Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO)
- State EPA or environment management offices:
IL | IN | MI | MN | NY | OH | PA | WI - Great Lakes Commission
- Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
- Great Lakes Fishery Commission
Canada
- Canada Water Act
- Canadian Environmental Protection Act of 1988
- Environment Canada
- Ontario Ministry of the Environment
Grassroots, community and individual involvementWhile legislation and laws ultimately determine the regulation of pollution entering the lakes, advocacy efforts are what often prompt governments to enact and enforce these laws. Major Great Lakes advocacy groups are listed below.
Individuals can also do their part in reducing water pollution. Examples include the following: stop using lawn pesticides and fertilizers; dispose of oil and paint in a recycle center; control soil erosion by replacing sections of your lawn (or your entire lawn!) with native plants; and keep litter and leaves out of your street gutters and storm drains.
Great Lakes United
Lake Michigan Federation
National Wildlife Federation Great Lakes Field Office
Sierra Club Eastern Canada Chapter
Sierra Club Midwest Field Office and state chapters
Graphics: GLWQA logo; protesters in Michigan fighting Toronto trash
