HOW Coalition Looks At Great Lakes Funding

Feb 6: The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition (HOW) has released a preliminary review of the President's proposed budget released on February 4, and how it relates to Great Lakes programs. They said the White House budget "leaves the Great Lakes on thin ice and underscores the need for Congress and the next President of the United States to do more to restore a national resource that millions of people depend on for their jobs, public health and quality of life.” HOW said the biggest single cut is to a program to help communities modernize old wastewater treatment facilities to prevent sewage contamination.

Jeff Skelding, National Campaign Director for HOW said, “Absent leadership from this President, we urge the U.S. Congress to fund the manageable solutions we have at our disposal to restore the Great Lakes now, because every day we wait, the problems get worse and the solutions more costly. We need strong federal leadership to partner with the region’s states and cities to restore the largest source of surface freshwater in the world. Instead, the White House budget cuts programs to stop sewage contamination and confront the threat of aquatic invasive species. Most of the leading presidential candidates have signed a pledge to restore the Great Lakes. We can’t wait until January. Now is the time to increase funding to restore the Great Lakes as called for in the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy. Congress must act to restore the cuts in this short sighted budget.”

Access a release from HOW (click here). Access a table comparing FY08 & FY09 funding levels (click here). Access a table comparing funding levels by individual Great Lakes states (click here). Access the HOW Coalition website for additional information (click here). Access a detailed, 78-page FY09 EPA Budget summary (click here, search Great Lakes for detailed information).