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Great Lakes Commission

Who We Are What I Do. Great Lakes Commission. Great Lakes Basin. Great Lakes Commission. Binational agency representing Great Lakes states and provinces Formed in mid 1950s via U.S. state and federal law: provincial associate membership in 1999

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Great Lakes Commission

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  1. Who We Are What I Do Great Lakes Commission

  2. Great Lakes Basin

  3. Great Lakes Commission • Binational agency representing Great Lakes states and provinces • Formed in mid 1950s via U.S. state and federal law: provincial associate membership in 1999 • Promotes the informed use, management and protection of the water and related natural resources of the Great Lakes Basin and St. Lawrence River • Addresses resource management, environmental protection, transportation and sustainable economic development issues • Functions are information sharing, policy research and development, and advocacy • “Information and research broker” that focuses on hydrologic, rather than geo-political boundaries

  4. Great Lakes-St. Lawrence System Water Resources: An Overview • Largest system of freshwater on the face of the earth • 6.5 quadrillion gallons of water over 95,000 square miles of lake surface • 20% of world’s supply of fresh surface water; 90% of United State’s supply • Basis for multi-billion dollar industries in every state and province • Intensive, multiple use under a complex multi-jurisdictional management structure • 989 billion gallons withdrawn/ used in-stream daily; 59 billion excluding hydroelectric

  5. Public Policy Significance of Great Lakes Water Resources • Regional/Global Prominence • Centerpiece of Basin Ecosystem • Role in Advancing/Sustaining Regional, National and Binational Economic Development • Sensitivity of Great Lakes System to climatic, management and socio-economic changes

  6. State of the Lakes • Control of conventional pollutants and point source discharges has been a success story • Emergence of nonpoint source pollution as a priority: urban and agricultural runoff, air deposition • Enhanced understanding of the land use/water quality linkage • Challenge of addressing legacy of the past (e.g., contaminated sediments, brownfields) – “Areas of Concern” • Heightened concern over environmental quality/human health connection • High profile issues include water quantity management and biological pollution

  7. Vision Statement “Our vision is a Great Lakes Basin that offers a prosperous economy, a economy, a healthy environment and a high quality of life for its citizens by applying principles of sustainable development in the use, management and protection of water, land and other natural resources” ~ 2000 Strategic Plan

  8. Org Structure • Governed by Board of Commissioners from each GL state (MN-west to NY-east), plus associate members from Ontario and Quebec • Exec Director & ~ 25 staff • 5 Program Areas • Environmental Quality • Resource Management • Transportation & Sustain Dev • Data & Information Management • Communications & Internet Tech • Great Lakes Information Network

  9. What I do • Project Manager – mainly monitoring coordination, of note: • Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands Consortium • Implementation Plan to EPA-GLNPO by Sept. 30 • Set of indicators/metrics/protocols • Macroinverts, Fish, Plants/Veg, Birds & Amphibs, Landscape • GL Coastal Wetlands Inventory/Class • Who will implement and how – funds needed • Just submitted proposal to EPA-REMAP Region 5 for similar project to do similar project for inland depressional wetlands + more CW

  10. What I do • Lake Michigan Monitoring Coordination Council

  11. LMMCC Background • Council was formed in 1999 • Formal charter was developed and approved • Serves as a regional forum to coordinate and support consistent, credible monitoring methods and strategies • Purpose: to define a regionally-coordinated agenda for Lake Michigan basin monitoring, with improved collaboration and data comparability • Council meets twice per year around the Lake Michigan basin • Great Lakes Commission provides technical/organizational support

  12. Membership • Broad membership encouraged, including representatives from: • Federal agencies • State agencies • Local governments • Basinwide organizations • Tribal authorities • Nonprofit watershed organizations • Industry • Academia/Sea Grant

  13. Air Aquatic nuisance species Fisheries Groundwater Land use Open lake Recreational waters Tributaries Wetlands Wildlife Revised Council Framework In 2001, the Council framework was modified to better take advantage of the logical interactions between resource-based monitoring entities:

  14. Workgroup Issues • Monitoring objectives • Gap assessment • Network design (spatial, temporal, common parameters/indicators) • Methods comparability • Quality assurance / Quality control • Data management considerations (e.g. metadata) • Data analysis approaches • Reporting

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