Helping to Keep Our Great Lakes Great 

November 6, 2009

More than 10,000 miles of coastline. Home to more than 30,000 islands. And, containing 90 percent of the nation’s fresh surface water.

These are our Great Lakes.

Stretching across two countries and 750 miles from east to west, the five Lakes support vibrant, growing coastal communities and vital port cities that are home to nearly 34 million people and myriad species of fish and wildlife. Nestled within the region are two treasured spaces, Michigan’s Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the National Estuarine Research Reserve at Old Woman Creek, Ohio.

The State of the Lakes

Take a closer look, however, and the beauty of the Great Lakes belies a sobering truth: an unprecedented number of stresses have pushed the Lakes to the brink.

For example, invasive species, like the quagga mussels in Lake Michigan, are changing the fundamental ecology of the Lakes. Chemicals from industrial areas and runoff from storms and agricultural operations are leaching into sediment and contaminating shores and beaches. High concentrations of pollutants like mercury, which fall into the Lakes from the atmosphere in the form of precipitation and dust, threaten everything from seafood to the quality of drinking water millions of people depend on.

It’s fitting that Cleveland, situated on the shores of Lake Erie, was the site of the sixth and final Ocean Policy Task Force meeting last week. Both the OPTF and NOAA are committed to working with partners from all sectors to chart a healthier, “greener” future for the Great Lakes — the nation’s inland freshwater seas.

Restoring Greatness to the Great Lakes

Earlier this year, the Obama Administration included funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) in its 2010 request to Congress.

The interagency initiative calls for the Environmental Protection Agency, NOAA and other federal partners to “restore the chemical, biological and physical integrity of the Great Lakes,” with the long-term goals of ensuring safe drinking water, clean beaches and healthy fish and wildlife habitats.

NOAA will receive nearly $30 million from EPA to fund at least 16 projects focused on five priority areas for the Great Lakes: toxic substances and areas of concern; invasive species; habitat and wildlife protection; nearshore and nonpoint source pollution; and accountability, monitoring, evaluation, communication and partnerships.

NOAA’s Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Team, led by Marie Colton, head of NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, and comprised of scientists and staff from every NOAA line office as well as from major partners and cooperative institutes, has been working with residents and state, local and tribal governments to solve the most vexing environmental issues facing the Lakes region.

With expert guidance from the Collaboration Team, NOAA will execute a number of critical GLRI projects, including:

• Mercury air modeling — With recreational fishing a popular pastime in the Great Lakes and fish consumption on the rise, mercury contamination is a serious concern for this region. NOAA will apply its unique modeling capabilities to help identify and predict how much of the mercury comes from the air.
  
  
• Expansion of NOAA’s Mussel Watch program — For nearly 20 years, NOAA has monitored the contamination of zebra mussels by pollutants, such as PCBs, in and around the Great Lakes. Under the GLRI, NOAA will have the resources to monitor more locations more frequently.
  
  
• Beach water monitoring — NOAA will join EPA and the U.S. Geological Survey to develop models that will better predict the presence of high levels of bacteria in the area’s beach waters and provide for more timely estimates to public health officials responsible for issuing health and safety warnings.

With our long-standing presence in and commitment to the Great Lakes region, our more than 880 dedicated NOAA employees are eager and well-positioned to partner with EPA to conduct such a wide-reaching and much needed restoration effort.

To learn more about the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, please visit the EPA Web site. Haven’t been to any or all of the Great Lakes yet? You can travel to each of the Lakes and peer beneath their surface without ever leaving home by taking NOAA’s narrated Great Lakes Google Tour.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jane Lubchenco
Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator

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