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Sustaining the Water Belt of North America

Explore the importance of the Great Lakes, their impact on the economy, and the need for sustainable water management. Discover the strategies and initiatives aimed at protecting and restoring the Great Lakes.

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Sustaining the Water Belt of North America

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  1. Sustaining the Water Belt of North America Todd Ambs Water Division Administrator, WDNR October 26, 2009

  2. What is the Future of Great Lakes’ Waters? The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.Aldo Leopold

  3. Great Lakes Environment 20% of world fresh surface water Quality of Life Vast region of interconnected fresh surface water Economy Critical resource for economy, recreation and environment

  4. Wisconsin Water Resources • 15,000 lakes • 84,000 miles of rivers • 5.3 million acres of wetlands • 1,000 miles of great lakes shoreline • Groundwater resources– 100 feet deep

  5. We have a responsibility to future generations “The ultimate test of a persons conscience may be the willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will never be heard.” Gaylord Nelson

  6. Watershed Approach The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment.Gaylord Nelson

  7. Wisconsin’s Economy • Agriculture • Timber Production • Tourism

  8. Tourism • $13.1 billion spent by tourists in 2008 • 95% increase in travel expenditures from 1995 to 2005 Wisconsin Department of Tourism

  9. Water Recreation • More than 575,000 registered boats • Wisconsin residents ranked swimming as third favorite outdoor activity • 1.4 million anglers • 3,719,000 angling days by non residents

  10. National Economy Depends on the Great Lakes • 30% of GNP • 125 million tons cargo • $53 billion in annual revenue • Boating supports 250,000 jobs

  11. A Watershed Time for Wisconsin’s Waters

  12. Two Blueprints for Action • The Great Lake-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement • The Great Lakes Regional Collaboration’s Strategy to Restore and Protect the Great Lakes

  13. Compact Fundamentals • Monitoring and reporting • Water conservation • Management of in basin water use • Withdrawal • Consumptive Use • Prohibition on diversions • Straddling community/county exceptions

  14. Water Conservation • Tiered program with increasing requirements • Voluntary to greatest rigor • Out of basin, in basin, straddling community/county, large water losses • Details in rulemaking

  15. Water Management – In-basin • Permits (new) • Baseline, monitoring and reporting, water conservation • General Permits, >100,000 gpd (25 years) • Individual Permits, >1 mgd (10 years)

  16. Water Management – In-basin • Water Loss approvals (1985) • > 2 mgd • Decision Making Standard • New or Increase > 1 mgd

  17. Other Elements • Water Supply Service Area Plans • 20 year plan • Population greater than 10,000 • Inventory of sources and quality • Existing populations/demands, future forecasts • Environmental/economic analysis of future options

  18. Diversions • Applications must be consistent with water supply service area plan • Meet decision making standard • Straddling community and county requests likely coming

  19. Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

  20. Habitat and Wildlife Protection and Restoration Protect and restore wetland Fish passage, Restore habitat Projects: Wetland Restoration, Spawning habitat – pike, musky, sturgeon Dam Removal, fish-ways, culvert modifications

  21. Invasive Species Identify other vectors for aquatic invasive species Fund invasive species management and control in coastal wetlands Ballast water controls

  22. Nearshore Health and Nonpoint Source Beach monitoring & forecasting – sanitary surveys Increase stream buffers Support nutrient management Nearshore monitoring

  23. Toxic Substances and Areas of Concern • Develop implementation plans for delisting criteria in AOCs • Sediment remediation and habitat improvement projects • Identify and eliminate emerging contaminants

  24. Accountability, Monitoring, Evaluation, Communication, and Partnerships Implementation relies on good baseline data Existing systems for data collection and reporting (SWIMS, WATERS, others?) Use Strategy to build on partnership opportunities

  25. Eighty percent of life is showing up.Woody Allen

  26. Great Lakes URLs • Office of the Great Lakes :http://dnr.wi.gov/org/water/greatlakes/ • Wisconsin Great Lakes Strategyhttp://dnr.wi.gov/org/water/greatlakes/wistrategy/ • Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: http://epa.gov/glnpo/glri/index.html

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