Federal Agencies Announce 5-Year Great Lakes Restoration Action Plan
Chicago, Ill. - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy today released a new Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Action Plan that lays out steps that federal agencies will take during the next five years to protect water quality, control invasive species and restore habitat in the largest surface fresh water system in the world. McCarthy, who chairs the federal Great Lakes Interagency Task Force, released the plan at a meeting of Great Lakes Mayors in Chicago. “The new Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan lays
out the steps we need to take to get us closer to the day when all Great
Lakes fish will be safe to eat, all beaches will be safe for swimmers
and harmful algal blooms will not threaten our drinking water supplies,”
said McCarthy. “During the next five years, federal agencies will
continue to use Great Lakes Restoration Initiative resources to
strategically target the biggest threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem
and to accelerate progress toward long term goals.” "The Army Corps is proud to be an integral part of this collaboration, ensuring positive actions produce positive benefits. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative continues to highlight the diversity of the Corps of Engineers' capabilities for the planning, design and construction of environmental restoration projects,” said Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Jo- Ellen Darcy. "The Department of the Interior is a proud partner in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative," said Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science Anne Castle. "Our Great Lakes plans and projects involve pollution prevention and cleanup of the most adversely affected areas, increasing understanding and management of invasive species, and a first-ever comprehensive assessment of the entire 530,000 acres of Great Lakes coastal wetlands habitat for the purpose of strategically targeting wildlife restoration and protection efforts. The Great Lakes are a key economic driver and Interior is committed to help restore healthy watersheds in the region." The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative was launched in 2010 to
accelerate efforts to protect and restore the largest surface fresh
water system in the world – to provide additional resources to make
progress toward the most critical long-term goals for this important
ecosystem.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative resources have helped fund
cleanup actions required to delist five Great Lakes Areas of Concern and
to formally delist the Presque Isle Bay Area of Concern – a major change
from the 25 years before the Initiative, during which only one Area of
Concern was cleaned up and delisted. Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
resources have also been used to double the acreage enrolled in
agricultural conservation programs in watersheds where phosphorous
runoff contributes to harmful algal blooms in western Lake Erie, Saginaw
Bay and Green Bay. So far, GLRI resources have been used to fund over
2,000 projects to improve water quality, to protect and restore native
habitat and species, to prevent and control invasive species and to
address other Great Lakes environmental problems. To learn more about the GLRI Action Plan, visit: www.glri.us/actionplan/ |