Ohio Lake Erie Commission Issues Two RFPs

Dec 4: The Ohio Lake Erie Commission is currently soliciting grant proposals for the Lake Erie Protection Fund for two projects: "Internal Loading as a Source of Phosphorus in Lake Erie" and "Inventory of Water Conservation Measures by Industry Sector." Please see the attached RFPs for project details. Each grant will provide up to $30,000, with a 25% match requirement ($7,500). Proposals are due February 1, 2013. Projects must assist with the implementation of the Lake Erie Protection and Restoration Plan 2008.

    The role of the Ohio Lake Erie Commission is to preserve Lake Erie's natural resources, to protect the quality of its waters and ecosystem, and to promote economic development of the region by ensuring the coordination of policies and programs of state government pertaining to water quality, toxic substances, and coastal resource management. The Lake Erie Protection Fund, which is administered by the Commission, focuses on projects that improve environmental and economic management and development decisions. The Fund is supported by the voluntary contributions of Ohioans who purchase the Erie...Our Great Lake license plate, featuring the Marblehead lighthouse.

 

    Access a posted announcement from the Commission (click here). Access the Commission's website for application materials and to obtain more information about the Lake Erie Protection Fund (click here).

 

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NOAA Tool Offers Custom Views Of Great Lakes Water Level Data

Dec 3: The new NOAA Great Lakes Water Level Dashboard, to be presented this week at the American Geophysical Union annual fall meeting, offers interactive displays of any combination of historical, current and projected water levels for all of the North American Great Lakes. Environmental researchers, educators and students, and Great Lakes region residents are among those who can use this online tool to quickly access desired slices of water level data.

    The dashboard is designed to show the ups and downs of the world's largest freshwater system. It draws from both experimental and operational data sets and forecasts from a variety of regional sources. Among its other benefits, the dashboard allows users to gain a perspective on the relative magnitude of seasonal, year-to-year and decade-to-decade water level changes.

    Marie Colton, Ph.D., NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) director said, "The Great Lakes water levels fluctuate more year-to-year than the water levels of other major coasts in the United States. The dashboard is expected to help resource managers communicate to the public about how water management strategies will change in an uncertain climate future. GLERL and the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research at the University of Michigan, both located in Ann Arbor, MI, developed the new tool with funding through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), administered by the U.S. EPA.

The Great Lakes dashboard can help users gain insight into the relationship between recent water level dynamics and long-term forecasts, as well as the relationship between climate trends and climate variability in the Great Lakes region. The severe drop in water levels (particularly for lakes Erie, Michigan and Huron) in the late 1990s, the current low levels on lakes Michigan and Huron, long-term declines in ice cover, and recent shifts in the seasonal water budget and water level dynamics of some of the lakes, are just a few examples.

Through its interactive framework, the dashboard allows users to investigate historical trends, and to use them as a reference point for evaluating forecasts of future water level conditions. Researchers plan to expand the dashboard by adding in other agency water level forecasts (including the operational forecasts developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Environment Canada) and water budget data such as precipitation, evaporation, and runoff. The NOAA Great Lakes Operational Forecasting System provides the official daily and hourly water level fluctuations for those who need shorter time-scale data. GLERL also offers its own Great Lakes Coastal Forecasting System which displays air temperature, cloud cover, wind and wave data.

    Access a release from NOAA with links to related information (click here). Access the water level dashboard (click here).

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Great Lakes Climate Adaptation Toolkit

Nov 30: Freshwater Future and EcoAdapt, have partnered to develop the Great Lakes Climate Change Adaptation Toolkit, with funding support from the Kresge Foundation. The toolkit includes:  A primer on climate change and adaptation;  Four case studies on how community groups are incorporating climate change into their work; Communications guidance; Fact sheets on specific Great Lakes climate impacts;  Approaches to addressing climate change with community leaders; and  A guide to assist with vulnerability assessments.

    Freshwater Future Executive Director Jill Ryan said, "The Great Lakes region is already seeing a number of impacts from climate change, including warmer air and water temperatures, less ice cover, changes in snowfall and rainfall, and extreme storm events like we experienced in many areas of the region this past summer. The toolkit provides a resource to help community groups develop a climate informed perspective on their own work and some approaches to help them bring that knowledge to issues their towns and cities may be addressing." Lara Hansen, Executive Director of EcoAdapt said, "Climate change is everybody's problem. By putting tools into the hands of groups working on a wide range of issues, we can engage many more people in preparing our communities to meet the challenges of climate change."

    The toolkit is one component of Freshwater Future's Great Lakes Community Climate Program, which includes workshops to train community groups how to consider climate change impacts in their work and a grants program to assist with implementation of on-the-ground projects.

    Access a posted announcement from Freshwater Future (click here). Access the Freshwater Future website (click here). Access the toolkit (click here).

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Funding For AOC Habitat Restoration Partnership Projects

Nov 30: NOAA's Restoration Center has released a Federal funding opportunity (FFO) for habitat restoration in Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs). The closing date is January 15, 2013. Through the solicitation, NOAA seeks to openly compete funding available for multi-year Great Lakes Regional Habitat Restoration Partnerships. Partnerships will result in implementation of a wide-range of individual habitat restoration projects focused in U.S. AOCs with funds provided by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative as anticipated in the President's FY2013 Budget.

    NOAA anticipates up to $10 million may be available to establish habitat restoration Partnerships in 2013, with annual funding anticipated to maintain them for up to three years. Typical Partnership awards are expected to range from $500,000 to $5,000,000 per year. Funding will support both engineering and design projects and on the ground implementation projects. NOAA notes that, "This is NOT a request for individual habitat restoration project proposals. A separate project-based funding opportunity will be released in January 2013."

 

    Access a posted announcement with links to the FFO, AOC information and contacts (click here).

 

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HOW Coalition Receives $2.5 Million Continuation Grant

Nov 29: Grand Rapids philanthropist Peter Wege and The Wege Foundation announced that they will continue to support the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes (HOW) Coalition for five more years through a $2.5 million grant. Lynn McClure, Midwest director for the National Parks Conservation Association, and a co-chair of the Coalition said, "We are extremely grateful for the generous support from Mr. Wege and The Wege Foundation. Their leadership has been instrumental in elevating the profile of the Great Lakes nationally, which has led to a federal commitment to improve the health of the lakes for the millions of people who live along the shores and visit each year."

    Former Steelcase CEO Peter Wege and his namesake foundation launched the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition in 2004 with a 5-year, $5 million grant. They have continued to be core supporters of the Coalition, which also receives funding from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, Great Lakes Fishery Trust, The Joyce Foundation and The Kresge Foundation. Ellen Satterlee, CEO of The Wege Foundation said, "Trustees are impressed by the collaborative support of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition and related Great Lakes work from so many other foundations in the region. Together, we're making a real difference for our Great Lakes and we at The Wege Foundation are proud and honored to work with the Coalition on this important cause."

    According to a release from HOW, the Coalition and its 120 member organizations in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have been leaders in securing a robust Great Lakes restoration plan and accompanying federal funding. Over the past three years, President Obama and the U.S. Congress have infused more than $1 billion into restoration programs through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to clean up toxic pollution, reduce runoff from cities and farms, restore habitat and wetlands and fight invasive species like the Asian carp.

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

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Priorities For Protecting Against Emerging Chemical Pollutants

Nov 27: A report released today by the Alliance for the Great Lakes (Alliance) notes that since the production of synthetic chemicals took off after World War II, the waters of Lake Michigan -- which take a century to refresh -- have yet to see a complete turnover. Halfway through this cycle, scientists are beginning to see alarming trends of an increasing multitude of chemicals found in the water. In southern Lake Michigan, one of the most urbanized and industrialized areas in the Great Lakes Basin and home to approximately a third of the Great Lakes population, these contaminants are a steady source of chemical exposure for aquatic species, and affect the quality of the waters we rely upon for drinking and look to for recreation.

 

    Alliance President and CEO Joel Brammeier said, "The number of chemicals entering the nation's environment each year is staggering, as is the potential for them to degrade the water we drink and swim in." Upwards of 85,000 chemicals are in production and use in the U.S. today -- more than 2,200 of them produced at a rate of 1 million-plus pounds a year. Beyond this, consumers can choose from more than 50,000 pharmaceutical products, and nearly 20,000 registered pesticide products have entered the

market since registration began in 1947.

 

    The report -- Keeping Great Lakes Water Safe: Priorities for Protecting Against Emerging Chemical Pollutants -- applies a published, peer-reviewed scientific framework to rank chemicals of highest concern found in national waters that are representative of those found in the Great Lakes. The methodology examines both surface water and treated drinking water -- identifying the top 20 emerging contaminants for each based on occurrence, ecologic and human health impacts, and water treatment capabilities. The top-ranking chemicals include representatives from a broad range of categories: hormones, synthetic musks, antibiotics, pharmaceuticals, antimicrobials and preservatives, UV blockers, plasticizers, flame retardants and pesticides.

 

    The Alliance indicates that as the chemical presence around us expands, the potential for them to end up in the Great Lakes also grows -- arriving there via atmospheric deposition, stormwater runoff and sewage overflows. Others are released into the Great Lakes at trace concentrations via treated wastewater discharges because conventional sewage treatment isn't designed to remove them. Lake Michigan's surface waters are affected, with six of the top 20 chemicals detected -- among them flame retardants, synthetic fragrances, bisphenol A (BPA), and a popular cholesterol-lowering drug -- found in the open lake waters.

 

    Current data shows that, after processing in a treatment plant, drinking water drawn from Lake Michigan may not be significantly burdened with contaminants, with only one chemical -- a flame retardant -- detected of the top 20 identified in the report. The report cautions that the data collected thus far provides only a snapshot of what might be in the open waters of the Great Lakes, however, and doesn't take into account the health risks that bioaccumulating chemicals in the water pose to people who eat Great Lakes fish. Also not known is the level of risk these trace levels of contaminants in the water actually pose for people and wildlife.

 

    The report calls for a comprehensive approach that involves not only technological solutions, but collaboration among utilities, regulatory agencies, public health officials, manufacturers and environmentalists to focus on pollution prevention. Additionally it

further calls for: Funding development of consistent, uniform regional monitoring standards; Encouraging the U.S. and Canada to draw on credible prioritization methods to set binational objectives for controlling high-priority Great Lakes contaminants, and to pursue these goals through domestic policy reforms; and Reforming the 36-year-old federal Toxic Substance Control Act to feature a framework that places pollution prevention at the forefront of new chemical design and production.

 

    Access the report website and link to a release, executive summary and the complete 40-page report (click here).

 

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Eight Draft Aquatic Pathway Assessment For Wisconsin

Nov 27: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released for public comment eight draft Aquatic Pathway Assessment Reports for the State of Wisconsin. The purpose of each report is to evaluate key evidence to estimate the likelihood of an aquatic pathway forming and the possibility of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) using it to reach the adjacent basin, as part of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS). Comments for the eight draft Wisconsin reports will be accepted from November 27, 2012 through December 27, 2012. USACE will review and incorporate public input before finalizing and re-issuing the reports early 2013. Additionally, USACE will host a stakeholder conference call Thursday, December 13, 2012 at 10 AM (Central) to answer questions regarding the Wisconsin reports. 

    The reports, which were developed in coordination with Federal, State and local partners, show that Portage Upstream (Columbia County), Portage and Canal Downstream (Columbia County), Rosendale-Brandon (Fond du Lac County) and Brule Headwaters (Douglas County) have a medium probability for the potential transfer of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSv) from the Great Lakes Basin into the Mississippi River Basin. Jerome Creek (Kenosha County), South Aniwa Wetlands (Marathon-Shawano County), Hatley-Plover River (Marathon County) and West Menomonee Falls (Waukesha County) have a low probability for the inter-basin movement of ANS.

    The overall objective of the Focus Area 2 portion of GLMRIS is to produce an interim report for each of the 18 potential aquatic pathways found between the two basins (outside of the Chicago Area Waterway System or Focus Area 1). The reports are the next step in a tiered approach to assess the probability associated with the spread of ANS between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins. Additional reports focusing on potential pathways in Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania will be released over the next few months, as they are completed. The reports include: study methodology; aquatic pathway characterization; aquatic pathway viability for ANS of Concern; overall aquatic pathway viability and some potential opportunities that, if implemented, could prevent or reduce the probability of ANS transferring between the basins.

 

    Access a release with additional details and instructions for commenting and the conference call (click here). Access links to all reports and online commenting links (click here). [#GLakes]

 

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