NOAA Online Mapping Tool For The Great Lakes

Sep 9: NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration has launched a new online mapping tool for the Great Lakes that will give decision makers, resource managers, and environmental responders better information as they clean up hazardous materials and restore the coastal and estuarine environments. The new Great Lakes Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®) tool features the most comprehensive collection of environmental contaminant data in the region, as well as information on natural resources, habitats, weather, water levels, and currents.

    Great Lakes ERMA adds to ERMA coverage in other regions around the nation, and focuses on coastal areas in the Great Lakes Basin from Minnesota to New York and from Ontario to Quebec in Canada. It integrates both static and real-time data from NOAA and other partners into a centralized, easy-to-use format. By combining environmental contaminant data from NOAA's Great Lakes Query Manager database with ecological, recreational, cultural, and commercial information, resource managers can compare environmental conditions over time and between locations.

    ERMA helps to illustrate progress in cleaning up contaminated sediment and restoring the health of the Great Lakes, both across the basin and in Areas of Concern -- the areas identified by the U.S. and Canada as polluted and in need of cleanup and restoration. As part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, NOAA developed Great Lakes ERMA,  in collaboration with EPA, U.S. Coast Guard, and University of New Hampshire. In addition to addressing environmental cleanup and restoration under the initiative, Great Lakes ERMA also improves planning, communication, and coordination for emergency responses to pollution incidents, such as oil and chemical spills. It integrates information from a variety of sources into a common picture, which can provide the response team with a quick visualization of the situation.

    Access a release from NOAA with multiple links to referenced information (click here). Access an overview and link to ERMA (click here). [#GLakes]

Comments Wanted On Great Lakes Accountability System

Sep 6: U.S. EPA has submitted an information collection request (ICR), Great Lakes Accountability System (Reinstatement). Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register (78 FR 21937,4/12/13) and during a 60-day comment period, no comments were received. EPA is extending the comment period by an additional 30 days until October 7, 2013.

 

    EPA explains that in 2010, EPA, in concert with its Federal partners, began implementation of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) that was included in the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010 (Pub. L. 111-88) and subsequent appropriations. The GLRI invests funds in programs and projects strategically chosen to target the most significant environmental problems in the Great Lakes ecosystem. The legislation called for increased accountability for the GLRI and directed EPA to implement a process to track, measure, and report on progress. As part of this process, Federal and non-Federal entities receiving GLRI funds are required to submit detailed information on GLRI projects into the Great Lakes Accountability System (GLAS). The information is necessary to provide an accurate depiction of activities, progress, and results. Information is updated on a quarterly basis.

 

    Access the FR announcement with additional information (click here). Access the EPA docket for additional information to submit and review comments (click here, updated soon). [#GLakes]

IJC Report On Lake Erie Nutrient & Algal Issues

Aug 29: The International Joint Commission (IJC) released for public comment the draft report -- Lake Erie Ecosystem Priority:  Scientific Findings and Policy Recommendations to Reduce Nutrient Loadings and Harmful Algal Blooms. The draft report reflects more than a year of work that brought together scientists from Canada and the United States to examine lake-wide changes related to phosphorous enrichment from both urban and rural sources, compounded by climate change and aquatic invasive species. The public is invited to comment online and also at a series of open houses and public meetings.

    Joe Comuzzi, Canadian chair of the IJC said, "The United States and Canada worked together to restore Lake Erie in the 1970s and 80s and their success was an historic binational achievement..Our goal is for this report to help governments address the new challenges facing Lake Erie and make history again." Lana Pollack, U.S. chair of the IJC said, "Common farming practices and also old sewer systems and climate are contributing to Lake Erie's current problems. Our advice to governments pulls no punches because the science indicates that without major changes, especially in farming practices, we won't see any substantial improvement in Lake Erie's health."

    In a release IJC indicates that following the record algal bloom on Lake Erie of nearly 2,000 square miles (more than 5000 square kilometers) in 2011, the Commission launched the Lake Erie Ecosystem Priority, setting as a goal the measurable reduction of phosphorous loads and harmful algal blooms. To address the challenge, dozens of scientists from both countries were brought together to examine scientific, socio-economic and regulatory themes as part of a comprehensive approach. In addition, the public was engaged throughout the process to solicit their views and ideas.

   The Commission is now receiving public comments  through October 5, 2013. The report will be highlighted at a panel discussion on September 10 at the Commission's Great Lakes Triennial Meeting in Milwaukee as part of Great Lakes Week. Following a 45 day public comment period, the draft report will be revised and submitted to the governments later this year. A hearing on the report will be held at Wayne County Community College on September 16. Six other hearings are planned for the Great Lakes and Ontario.

    Access a release from IJC including key highlights a summary of 15 specific recommendations with links to online commenting procedures and more information about public meeting locations and times (click here). Access the complete 86-page report (click here). Access details on the meetings (click here). [#GLakes]

Subscribers & Readers Notice

Subscribers & Readers Notice:

 

WIMS is on our late Summer publication break continuing through Labor Day. We will resume publication on Tuesday, September 3, 2013.

GLMRIS Issues Updated Eagle Marsh ANS Controls Report

Aug 14: The Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) Team has released the updated Eagle Marsh Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) Controls Report, which identifies options and technologies to prevent the transfer via water of Asian carp and other ANS between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins at Eagle Marsh wetlands preserve, located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The report was updated based on public comments and is now available on the GLMRIS website.

 

    In the draft report released November 16, 2012, nine structural alternatives were compared and at least three -- all hydrologic separation alternatives -- were determined to have a "high" likelihood of preventing inter-basin transfer of ANS across Eagle Marsh. The draft was open to public review and comments for 60 days following its release, and a public meeting was held December 2012.

    Based on the results of the public review and stakeholder meetings, the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and interested stakeholders are conducting further evaluations of variations of Alternatives H and I in the report that could be implemented independently of GLMRIS. Alternatives H and I involve reconstructing an existing agricultural berm along the Graham-McCulloch Ditch at Eagle Marsh.

    One option includes a reconstruction of the existing berm at Eagle Marsh to prevent flood water from passing between the Great Lakes Basin and the Mississippi River Basin during flood events. The reconstructed berm would be similar in height to the existing berm for much of its length, with existing low areas raised and high areas lowered to create a uniform berm. This option is still undergoing evaluation due to complexities in engineering and hydrological analyses, real estate and funding. Additionally, compliance with environmental and other laws still need to be evaluated before a final decision is made.

    The Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) holds an easement on much of the property on which Eagle Marsh is located and is interested in taking the lead on design of the potential berm reconstruction and implementation of a solution to the potential ANS transfer at Eagle Marsh. The Eagle Marsh property is jointly owned by the Little River Wetlands Project (LRWP) and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), and both organizations have been active in developing a solution.

    USACE has actively coordinated with IDNR, U.S. Geological Survey, NRCS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. EPA, Council on Environmental Quality, LRWP, Maumee River Basin Commission, Allen County Soil and Water Conservation District and Allen County Surveyor's Office throughout the development of the report.

    Of the 18 pathways studied in GLMRIS Focus Area 2, Eagle Marsh was the only one identified as having a high risk for potential transfer of ANS between basins, thus warranting its own ANS controls report. Even after a temporary fence was built in 2010 for Asian carp prevention, Eagle Marsh was still identified as high risk for transfer of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus or VHS.

 

    Access a release from GLMRIS (click here). Access links to the Eagle Marsh report and all appendices and a fact sheet (click here). [GLakes/ANS] 

Great Lakes Socioeconomics & Climate Change

Aug 13: A jointly developed interactive map launched this month by the University of Michigan's Graham Sustainability Institute and Headwaters Economics gives Great Lakes policymakers and decision-makers easy access to targeted data to help them plan for, and adapt to, the regional impacts of climate change. The free online tool -- the "Socioeconomics and Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region" map -- provides social, economic and demographic statistics on 225 counties in the region, overlaid with detailed data about municipal spending, land-use change and climate-change characteristics. It was co-developed by the Graham Sustainability Institute (as part of its Great Lakes Adaptation Assessment for Cities project, known as GLAA-C) and Headwaters Economics, an independent, nonprofit research group. The Kresge Foundation funded and facilitated the collaboration.

    Don Scavia, director of the Graham Sustainability Institute said, "We anticipate that the impacts of climate variability and change will be felt differently in different regions of the Great Lakes based on their economies, infrastructure and vulnerable populations. This collaboratively built resource is designed to give these communities some of the solutions-focused, place-based climate science they need to adapt." Elizabeth Gibbons, GLAA-C project manager and research area specialist said, "The interactive map is geared toward helping stakeholders see how changes in climate interact with social, economic and land-use changes across the region. We're really hoping it proves to be a valuable tool for all the municipalities who use it."

    The online tool—which includes historical data from 1951 to 2011 -- covers counties in the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. U-M and Headwaters Economics expect to co-develop a similar map for Ontario in the months ahead.

 

    Access a release (click here). Access the online interactive map from the Graham website (click here). Access the online interactive map from the Headwaters website (click here). [#GLakes, #Climate]

New Science On Toxics Chemical In The Great Lakes

Aug 6:  HealthyStuff.org has partnered with the Mind the Store campaign to craft a mini-report that highlights some of the new science around toxic chemical pollutants in the Great Lakes, including the nasty "PBT" chemicals that stay in the environment, to "emerging contaminants" like Triclosan, which are rapidly rising as Great Lakes pollutants. Toxic chemicals have a variety of routes they travel: some are released directly from manufacturing sites or creep their way out of landfills into the ground water, rivers and lakes, while others are the result of legacy pollution from days past. So the researchers mapped out where the Hazardous 100+ chemicals have been found in the Great Lakes Areas of Concern to illustrate this legacy of pollution.

 

    Access the mini-report including references and links (click here). Access the Hazardous 100+ List of Chemicals of High Concern (click here). Access the HealthyStuff website for more information (click here). [#GLakes/Toxics]