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The
Great Lakes face alarming ecological challenges over the next decade, and with
them, unparalleled opportunities. A century of toxic dumping has left a legacy
of contaminated sediments along the coastline of the lakes, often in areas that
are most important for wildlife. At the same time, coastline development is
accelerating, further damaging vulnerable coastal habitats. Contamination from
air pollution that falls into water, such as mercury and PCBs, has resulted in
record numbers of fish consumption advisories for the Great Lakes and their
inland tributaries. Shockingly, in one of the most water-rich regions on earth,
some areas are experiencing water shortages because of unwise water use and
water exports. An increasingly thirsty world will place even greater stress on
our Sweetwater Seas.
Our opportunities for meeting these challenges are unprecedented, if we have the
vision and commitment to seize them. For the first time ever, all of the Great
Lakes governors have committed to developing a common water management regime
that would protect the Great Lakes from unwise water use and water exports,
while restoring parts of the Great Lakes ecosystem. Also for the first time, key
governors have committed to phasing out mercury pollution in their states, and
the U.S. EPA is considering incentives to promote those phaseouts. Congress last
year authorized the spending of $300 million to clean up contaminated sediments
in the Great Lakes, an amount that will start the multi-billion dollar sediment
cleanup process. This year, states and municipalities are considering a much
larger proposal to fund complete restoration of the Great Lakes.
Without strong public support and participation, however, the opportunity to
meet the tremendous environmental challenges facing the Great Lakes may be lost.
In one sense, citizens are already participating in managing Great Lakes waters.
Each time a person turns on his or her tap or disposes of a product that
contains mercury, for example, he or she is making a water management decision.
The true test of whether we will be effective in restoring and conserving the
Great Lakes will be whether the commitment and vision to do so enters the
consciousness of policy makers, individuals and civil society at large to make
stewardship of our region’s freshwater resources a common understanding.
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