Who We AreWhat 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

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

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989 billion gallons withdrawn/ used in-stream daily; 59 billion excluding hydroelectric

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

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

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

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 staff5 Program Areas

Environmental QualityResource ManagementTransportation & Sustain DevData & Information

ManagementCommunications & Internet

Tech• Great Lakes Information Network

What I doProject Manager – mainly

monitoring coordination, of note:

Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands ConsortiumImplementation Plan to EPA-

GLNPO by Sept. 30Set 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

What I do

Lake Michigan Monitoring Coordination Council

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

Membership

Broad membership encouraged, including representatives from:

• Federal agencies

• State agencies

• Local governments

• Basinwide organizations

• Tribal authorities

• Nonprofit watershed organizations

• Industry

• Academia/Sea Grant

Revised Council Framework

In 2001, the Council framework was modified to better take advantage of the logical interactions between resource-based monitoring entities:

Air

Aquatic nuisance species

Fisheries

Groundwater

Land use

Open lake

Recreational waters

Tributaries

Wetlands

Wildlife

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