Great Lakes Strategy 2002

By Environmental Protection Agency

Book Id: WPLBN0000123350
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 0.2 MB
Reproduction Date: 2007

Title:	Great Lakes Strategy 2002
Author:	Environmental Protection Agency
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Ecology, Natural resource issues, Environemtal protection
Collections:	Environmental Awareness Library Collection
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	United States Environmental Protection Agency


Citation APA MLA Chicago Protection Agency, B. E. (n.d.). Great Lakes Strategy 2002. Retrieved from http://gutenberg.cc/

Description
Excerpt: Since the signing of the 1972 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA), programs and policies to restore and protect the Great Lakes have served as a worldwide model for inter-jurisdictional cooperative environmental protection and natural resource management. Toxic substances in the environment have been greatly reduced and the ecosystem shows signs of recovery. Billions of dollars in wastewater infrastructure improvements and bans on high phosphate household detergents have largely addressed the excess nutrient loads which choked the Great Lakes with nuisance algae. The treatment of industrial effluent discharges has greatly improved water quality. Multimedia initiatives to prevent pollution from persistent, toxic substances, have evolved to become a national program. Multi-stakeholder lake-wide and local stewardship initiatives are serving to identify and protect habitats which support an important variety of plants, fish, terrestrial wildlife, and other important species found in this world-class freshwater ecosystem. Despite these impressive accomplishments, much work remains to be done to ensure a healthy Great Lakes ecosystem.

Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS RENEWING THE PARTNERSHIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Why The Great Lakes Are Important Regionally, Nationally, And Globally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Our Commitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Our Long Term Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Our Collective Goals and Priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 CHEMICAL INTEGRITY: REDUCING AND ELIMINATING THE THREAT OF TOXIC POLLUTION AND EXCESS NUTRIENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Implementing the Great Lakes Initiative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Establishing Total Maximum Daily Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Achieving the Challenges of the Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Addressing Impacts from Air Deposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Achieving Out-of-Basin Toxics Reductions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Cleaning Up Past Contamination: Sediments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Promoting the Safe Consumption of Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Maintaining A Healthy Nutrient Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 PHYSICAL INTEGRITY: PROMOTING HABITAT PROTECTION, WATER QUANTITY MANAGEMENT, AND IMPROVED LAND USE PRACTICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Habitat Protection and Restoration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Special Focus Area: Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Protection of Great Lakes Water Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Sustainable Land Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Brownfield Redevelopment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Promoting Conservation Practices on Agricultural Lands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Overflows from Sanitary Sewers and Combined Sewer Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Storm Water Discharges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY: PROTECTING HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ECOSYSTEM'S SPECIES . . . . . . . . . 24 Human Health Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Maintaining the Great Lakes as a Safe Source of Drinking Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Promoting Clean and Healthy Beaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Promoting a Healthy Great L