Great Lakes Environment: Mar 18, 2013

Monday, March 18, 2013

Adaptive Management Plan To Address Great Lakes Water Levels

Mar 15: On May 29, 2012 the International Joint Commission (IJC) issued a directive to establish the International Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management Task Team and directed it to develop a detailed Adaptive Management Plan to address future extreme water levels in the Great Lake-St. Lawrence River system. The bi-national Team has now released its proposed Adaptive Management Plan -- Building Collaboration Across the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River System: An Adaptive Management Plan for Addressing Extreme Water Levels. The proposed Adaptive Management provides a new approach to addressing water level issues, one that is based on working collaboratively with partners in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River system to gather and share critical information over time; assess the information with state-of-the art tools; develop adaptation strategies; measure collective success in managing the impacts of extreme water levels; and adapt accordingly. Its goal is provide a more efficient and cost effective way to support decision-making aimed at reducing the impacts associated with future extreme water levels.

The Adaptive Management Task Team is seeking input from the public on the draft Plan between March 15 and April 15, 2013. In particular, the Task Team would like feedback on the following: Do you support the general adaptive management approach for addressing future extreme water levels?; How could the proposed Adaptive Management Plan be improved?; and What concerns do you have about the proposed Adaptive Management Plan? Comments on the proposed Adaptive Management Plan can submitted until April 15, 2013. Comments submitted on-line will appear on the website and will contribute to the broader discussion. Following the public comment period, the Task Team will revise the Adaptive Management Plan and forward it to the IJC for its consideration.

The Task Team is hosting a series of seven topical webinars to provide more information on key aspects of the proposed Adaptive Management Plan. The webinars are designed to deal with specific issue topics including: Hydroclimate Monitoring and Modeling; Performance Indicators and Risk Assessment; Plan Evaluation and Decision Tools; Information Management and Distribution; Governance for Adaptive Management; Outreach and Engagement; and Adaptive Management Pilot Projects.

Access an announcement from IJC with details on the webinars and on-line commenting (click here). Access the complete 72-page draft plan (click here). [#GLakes/Levels]