IUGLS Completes 5-Year Lake Superior Outflow Regulation Plan

Mar 28: The International Upper Great Study (IUGLS) announced they have recommended an improved regulation plan for outflows from Lake Superior. According to a release, the new plan -- Lake Superior Regulation Plan 2012 -- is more robust than the existing plan and provides important benefits, especially to the environment. Made up of a panel of experts from Canada and the U.S., the recommendation is the highlight of their final, peer-reviewed report to the International Joint Commission (IJC), marking the end of the $14.6 million ($17.6 million Cdn.) five-year study.  
 
    The report provides cutting edge scientific information regarding the impacts of climate change on the upper Great Lakes. In particular, the Study found that changes in lake levels may not be as extreme over the next 30 years as previous studies have predicted. The finding reflects a trend of increasing evaporation, likely due to lack of ice cover, and increasing water temperatures and wind speeds, with the resulting reduction in water supplies largely offset by increased precipitation. Projections suggest that lake levels will remain within a relatively narrow historical range with lower levels likely though higher levels are possible at times.
 
    The release indicates that based on a shared vision planning process, the Study identified a regulation plan that is superior to the current plan, which has been in place since 1990, especially under conditions of lower water supplies. For example, if conditions are significantly drier, the new plan does a better job of preserving Lake Superior water levels while taking into account downstream lakes. In addition, under dry conditions, the new plan avoids the serious adverse effects on the spawning habitat of lake sturgeon in the St. Marys River. 
 
    The report also predicts more natural river flows. Compared to the existing plan, month-to-month changes will generally be smaller under the new plan, giving the St. Marys River a more natural flow relationship to Lake Superior levels. This is an important factor in sustaining ecosystem health in the river. 
 
    The report also identifies benefits to other key interests. Lake Superior Regulation Plan 2012 will provide modest additional benefits for commercial navigation, hydroelectric generation and coastal interests, under both wetter and drier water supply conditions. Most importantly, under very dry conditions, commercial navigation through the Soo Locks and power generation would be threatened with closure under the current plan but not under the improved plan.

 

    According to the report, the rules for operating Lake Superior Regulation Plan 2012 will be much less complex than rules for the existing plan, making it easier to manage, maintain and adapt to a changing climate. The researchers found that restoration structures (such as "speed bumps" in the St. Clair River) designed to raise Lake Michigan-Huron water levels would result in adverse effects on certain key interests.  Moreover, the potential for multi-lake regulation (additional control points on the St. Clair and Niagara rivers) to address extreme water levels is limited by uncertainty of future water supplies, environmental concerns and institutional requirements.
 
Public concerns about water levels.  Not surprisingly, public concerns about water levels in the upper Great Lakes differ considerably depending on geographic location.  For example, many residents of the Georgian Bay region of Ontario supported construction of new structures to provide for restoration or multi-lake regulation.  In contrast, many residents of Lake Michigan (and other areas) expressed concern about potential damages of higher water levels and those living on the St. Clair River and downstream opposed new structures because of the possibility of negative environmental impacts, among other reasons.
 
    The Study Board made the following key recommendations:

• the IJC should approve Lake Superior Regulation Plan 2012 as the new plan for regulating Lake Superior outflow;
• the IJC should seek to improve scientific understanding of hydroclimatic processes and impacts on future Great Lakes water levels as part of a continuous, coordinated bi-national effort that includes strengthened modeling and enhanced data collection;
• an adaptive management strategy should be applied to address future extreme water levels and a Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Levels Advisory Board should be established to help administer the strategy; and,
• further study of multi-lake regulation in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence system should not be pursued at this time.

    The study was launched by the IJC in 2007 to review the regulation of Lake Superior outflows and to assess the need for improvements to address both changing needs and a changing climate.  Lake Superior Regulation Plan 2012 will determine the operation of the power dams and other control structures in the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie (MI and ON). The final report was unanimously endorsed by the 10-member binational Study Board, includes the work of more than 200 scientists and engineers, and reflects extensive, independent peer review. The Study also benefited from the advice of a 20-member Public Interest Advisory Group and input provided by the public at meetings held throughout the upper Great Lakes basin. Prior to taking action, the IJC plans to hold public hearings in July.

 

    Access a release from IUGLS (click here). Access the complete Pan (click here). Access the summary version (click here). Access the IUGLS website (click here).

 

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Final Coast Guard Regulations On Ballast Water Management

Mar 23: The U.S. Coast Guard issued its final rule [77 FR 17254-17320] amending its regulations on ballast water management by establishing a standard for the allowable concentration of living organisms in ships' ballast water discharged in waters of the United States. The Coast Guard also is amending its regulations for engineering equipment by establishing an approval process for ballast water management systems. The Coast Guard said the new regulations will aid in controlling the introduction and spread of nonindigenous species from ships' ballast water in waters of the United States. The final rule is effective June 21, 2012 except for 33 CFR 151.1513 and 151.2036 which contains information collection requirements that OMB has not approved. The Coast Guard indicated it will publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date. Comments sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on collection of information must be received on or before May 22, 2012.

 

    The Coast Guard indicated that it is establishing a standard for the allowable concentration of living organisms in ballast water discharged from ships in waters of the United States. Additionally it is also amending its regulations for engineering equipment by establishing an approval process for ballast water management systems. The numerical limits set by the discharge standard in this Final Rule are supported by reports from the National Academy of Science and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board in 2011 as the most stringent that vessels can practicably implement and that the Coast Guard can enforce at this time.

 

    In a separate, but related announcement [77 FR 17082-17084] the Coast Guard announced the availability of a final programmatic environmental impact statement (FPEIS) for the rulemaking entitled, Standards for Living Organisms in Ships' Ballast Water Discharged in U.S. Waters (Docket No. USCG-2001-10486). The FPEIS provides an assessment of the potential environmental impacts associated with the establishment of a ballast water discharge standard for the allowable concentration of living organisms in ships' ballast water discharged in waters of the United States. The standard will be used to approve ballast water management methods that are effective in preventing or reducing the introduction of nonindigenous species via discharged ballast water into waters of the United States. Comments on the FPEIS and related material may be submitted on or before April 23,
2012.

 

    Access the FR announcement on the Final Rule (click here). Access the FR announcement on the FPEIS (click here). Access the Coast Guard Ballast Water Management website for details and background (click here). [#Water, GLakes]

 

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Federal Farm Bill Conservation Programs & Great Lakes Restoration

Mar 20: The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes (HOW) Coalition released a report urging Federal public officials to strengthen and support successful farm conservation programs that are vital to restoring the health of the Great Lakes. Jeff Skelding, campaign director for the HOW Coalition said, "Farm conservation programs are essential for Great Lakes restoration. Farm conservation programs are producing results, but there is more work to do. Cutting support for these successful programs now will cause problems to get worse and more costly to solve."

    The report, The Case for Federal Farm Bill Conservation Programs in the Great Lakes Region, documents how conservation measures on farms across the region are protecting natural resources, helping farmers improve productivity and providing jobs.
According to a release, the report comes as U.S. legislators embark on revising the Federal Farm Bill, the primary agriculture and food policy tool of the Federal government that includes one of the largest sources of conservation funding in the Federal budget: The Great Lakes states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin receive more than $500 million in conservation funding annually through the Farm Bill.

    The degree to which the new Farm Bill helps Great Lakes restoration efforts may hinge on the actions of Federal public officials from the Great Lakes region -- particularly in the U.S. Senate, which is leading the effort to update the Farm Bill. The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry is chaired by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and includes members Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Richard Lugar (R-IN).

    HOW points out that in the last two Federal budgets the U.S. Congress has cut Farm Bill conservation programs by more than $1 billion. President Obama's fiscal year 2013 budget recommends further reductions of more than $400 million. The HOW Coalition is urging lawmakers to restore conservation funding in the Farm Bill. The new report offers several recommendations to get more "bang for the buck" from Federal Farm Bill programs, including: Invest more, not less, on farm conservation programs;
Support a new regional restoration program; Connect crop insurance subsidies to conservation compliance; Eliminate provisions that incentivize habitat destruction; and, Target programs on the worst problems.

    Access a lengthy release from the HOW Coalition with more details and links to related information (click here). Access the complete 24-page report (click here). [#GLakes]

 

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Interim Asian Carp Environmental DNA Calibration Study

Mar 15: Members of the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (ACRCC) released the first interim report of the Asian Carp Environmental DNA Calibration Study (ECALS). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is leading the two-year study in conjunction with the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reduce the uncertainty surrounding Asian carp environmental DNA (eDNA) results. eDNA is a process in which genetic material (cells containing DNA from mucus, feces and/or urine) is extracted from water samples to detect the possible presence of Asian carp. ECALS is funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

    A new ECALS page on the ACRCC's website Asiancarp.us will host interim reports and tentative release dates for upcoming interim reports and document the progress of the study. Kelly Baerwaldt, ACRCC eDNA program manager said, "At present, eDNA evidence cannot verify whether live Asian carp are present, whether the DNA may have come from a dead fish, or whether water containing Asian carp DNA may have been transported from other sources such as bilge water, storm sewers or fish-eating birds."

    ECALS will investigate alternative sources and pathways for eDNA detections beyond a live fish. The study will also examine how environmental variables such as light, temperature and water velocity impact eDNA detections; explore the correlation between the number of positive samples and the strength of the DNA source; develop more efficient eDNA markers to cut the sampling processing time in half and model eDNA transport specific to the Chicago Area Waterway System.

    The first interim report provides results to date from the study, including storm sewer experiments, fertilization analysis and alternative sampling trials to make the sampling process more efficient. For example, an initial trial on Chinatown storm sewers demonstrates that ice contaminated with Asian carp DNA and deposited into storm drains may serve as a source of eDNA and testing on two brands of fertilizer, as Asian carp are used as ingredients in some, failed to detect bighead or silver carp DNA. Moreover, the differences in sampling at different depths were investigated, and it was found that surface sampling was the most successful in detecting eDNA.

 

    Access a release and link to the interim report (click here). Access the ACRCC's website (click here).

 

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Overall Great Lakes Ice Coverage Down 71% Since 1973

Mar 12: NOAA/Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory recently published a paper in the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Journal of Climate entitled, Temporal and Spatial Variability of Great Lakes Ice Cover, 1973–2010. In this study, temporal and spatial variability of ice cover in the Great Lakes are investigated using historical satellite measurements from 1973 to 2010. The seasonal cycle of ice cover was constructed for all the lakes, including Lake St. Clair. A unique feature found in the seasonal cycle is that the standard deviations (i.e., variability) of ice cover are larger than the climatological means for each lake. This indicates that Great Lakes ice cover experiences large variability in response to predominant natural climate forcing and has poor predictability. Spectral analysis shows that lake ice has both quasi-decadal and interannual periodicities of ~8 and ~4 yr.

 

    There was a significant downward trend in ice coverage from 1973 to the present for all of the lakes, with Lake Ontario having the largest, and Lakes Erie and St. Clair having the smallest. The translated total loss in lake ice over the entire 38-yr record varies from 37% in Lake St. Clair (least) to 88% in Lake Ontario (most). The total loss for overall Great Lakes ice coverage is 71%, while Lake Superior places second with a 79% loss. An empirical orthogonal function analysis indicates that a major response of ice cover to atmospheric forcing is in phase in all six lakes, accounting for 80.8% of the total variance. The second mode shows an out-of-phase spatial variability between the upper and lower lakes, accounting for 10.7% of the total variance. The regression of the first EOF-mode time series to sea level pressure, surface air temperature, and surface wind shows that lake ice mainly responds to the combined Arctic Oscillation and El Niño–Southern Oscillation patterns.

 

    Access an abstract and link to accessing the complete paper (click here). Access an article on the study in Marquette Mining Journal (click here).

 

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HOW RFP For Great Lakes Grant Program

Mar 9: The goal of the Healing Our Waters (HOW) GLRI/Federal Project Support grants program is to provide financial support that will aid in the development and implementation of Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and other Federal proposals or projects by organizations working to directly impact the Healing Our Waters Priority Areas with awards up to $15,000. The deadline for electronic application submission on the HOW form is May 13, 2012.

 

    The HOW-Great Lakes Coalition, formed in 2005, reflects a growing public awareness about the urgent need to protect the Great Lakes. The Coalition is generously supported by the Wege Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Great Lakes Fishery Trust, the Kresge Foundation, and the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation. The Coalition seeks to secure a sustainable restoration plan and the billions of dollars of state and federal funding needed to implement it. The coalition seeks to clean up sewage and toxic sediments, to restore damaged habitat, to protect high quality habitat, and to control and prevent the introduction of invasive species, each of which is an essential component of restoring the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem.

    The HOW Priority Areas encompass only those watersheds listed as part of the area description, unless otherwise specified. All watersheds are listed by their name as defined by U.S. EPA as follows: St. Louis Bay and St. Louis River; including the St. Louis and Beartrap-Nemadjii watersheds; Chicago Land; including the Little CalumetGalien, Pike-Root, and Chicago watersheds; Saginaw Bay; including the Saginaw watershed, Saginaw Bay and its coastal zone; Western Lake Erie; including the Lower Maumee watershed and its coastal zone; and Eastern Lake Ontario; including the Irondequoit Ninemile watershed.

    Access the complete RFP (click here). Access the HOW application form (click here). Access more information from HOW (click here); and (click here).

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HOW Coalition Meets With White House Officials

Feb 29: Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes (HOW) Coalition members announced they will be meeting today with senior White House and Obama Administration officials at a Great Lakes summit to discuss the accomplishments and priorities of the current administration. The HOW Coalition consists of more than 120 environmental, conservation and outdoor recreation organizations, zoos, aquariums and museums representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes.

 

    The gathering followings a meeting Monday between coalition leaders and Obama Administration officials in the West Wing of the White House, at which time Great Lakes advocates put forward an agenda to: Maintain momentum for restoring the lakes by continuing to fund restoration programs through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative; boosting Federal assistance to help communities combat sewage overflows; enacting strong protections against ballast water invaders; confronting the algae bloom epidemic in Lake Erie; and moving more aggressively to separate the Great Lakes and Mississippi River to prevent the spread of Asian carp and other invasive species between the two bodies of water.

    Jeff Skelding, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition said, "We look forward to meeting with Obama Administration officials to discuss how we can work together to support Great Lakes restoration projects that benefit the environment and economy. Restoration efforts are producing results, but there is more to do. Continued leadership by President Obama and the U.S. Congress will be essential to restore our lakes, protect our drinking water, create jobs and uphold our way of life." The gathering, sponsored by the White House Council on Environmental Quality's Office of Public Engagement, comes as coalition members from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin conclude two days of meetings with U.S. congressional offices as part of Great Lakes Days.

    The HOW Coalition views 2012 as a pivotal year in the effort to restore the Great Lakes, as the fate of key water issues hinge on actions by the Obama Administration and U.S. Congress. Among them: Funding the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and other clean water programs; Reauthorizing the Farm Bill, the largest funding source for federal conservation programs; Finalizing EPA guidelines dealing with clean water protections and Coast Guard and EPA rules addressing polluted ballast water discharges; and, Acting to prevent the advance of Asian carp, which are on the doorstep to the Lakes.

   Access a release from HOW with more details (click here). Access the HOW website for more information (click here).

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