Groups Urge Ontario Water Conservation Strategy

Aug 13: A coalition of water professionals, university think-tanks, environmental and citizen-based groups called on the Ontario government to take immediate and aggressive action on water conservation. The groups released the report of the POLIS Water Sustainability Project entitled, H2Ontario: A Blueprint for a Comprehensive Water Conservation Strategy outlines a strategy for making Ontario world-leaders in cutting wasteful water practices, and urges Ontarians to support development of a world-class action plan. They said the blueprint coincides with the release of a government white paper outlining options for a new water strategy. Peer reviewed by the country’s leading water experts, H2Ontario sets a course for the development of a progressive and pragmatic plan.

Carol Maas, author of the report and Innovation and Technology Director for the POLIS Project said, “We commend the Premier of Ontario for identifying the importance of conserving water. Investing in water efficiency and conservation will protect freshwater ecosystems, foster new innovative industries and save energy all at a fraction of the cost of expanding water infrastructure." Maas also pointed to recent research that identifies water conservation as the next frontier of municipal energy and greenhouse gas emission savings. She indicated that a province-wide increase in water efficiency of 20% over the next 20 years could save enough pumping, treatment and heating energy to power 90% of the homes in the City of Toronto.

As signatories to a key regional agreement, all ten Great Lakes states and provinces have committed to taking action on water conservation, a crucial step to protecting and restoring the Great Lakes. The Blueprint establishes a coherent strategy organized around 10 priority actions and 25 specific recommendations. Priority actions include encouraging the province to: Recognize conservation as the best form of new infrastructure – by requiring water conservation plans and providing infrastructure funds for conservation; Price it right – by encouraging volume based pricing; Support innovation – through pilot programs, education, and incentives for commercialization of new water efficient practices and technologies; and, Promote efficient fixtures – by banning 13 liter toilets and other inefficient fixtures.

The groups noted that the government of Ontario had proposed a white paper, entitled “Stewardship, Leadership, Accountability: Safeguarding and Sustaining Ontario’s Water Resources for Future Generations,” which was posted on the Environmental Registry and is open for public comment until October 4, 2009. The proposal indicates, "Water supports a diverse economy, population and ecosystem in Ontario and the province has a strong history in managing our water in a sustainable way. In the face of current and future stresses to water quantity, such as population growth and climate change, some aspects of water management in Ontario need to be enhanced."

Access a release from the groups listing the supporting organizations (click here). Access links to the H2Ontario report and an executive summary (click here). Access the POLIS project website for more information (click here). Access the Ontario proposal in the Registry (click here).

Latest Council of Great Lakes Governors Newsletter

Aug 7: The Council of Great Lakes Governors (CGLG) has posted the August 2009 edition of its newsletter, THE COMPASS. Highlights in the issue include: A Message from Council Chair Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle; Governors Continue Push to Protect the Lakes Against Asian Carp; GLNA Hosts Annual Meeting and Tours Wisconsin; Department of Energy Pulls Plug on Regional Biomass Program; Australia—New Zealand Trade Mission Generates Sales for Great Lakes Companies; Great Lakes Water Resource Managers’ Initiative Launched; and Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Promises Funds to Restore the Great Lakes.

Access the latest CGLG newsletter (click here). Access the CGLG website for more information (click here).

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative News

Jul 28: The slides from the presentations being given by the U.S. EPA at the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Stakeholder Meetings [See WIMS 7/14/09] are now available online. The slides provide background information about the Great Lakes, the Initiative, Proposed Programs for implementation in Fiscal Year 2010, and the Great Lakes Multi-Year Action Plan Outline (Fiscal Years 2010 thru 2014). The Great Lakes Multi-Year Restoration Action Plan Outline is also available at the link below and stakeholder feedback may be submitted until by August 19, 2009 online.

Access the presentation slides (click here). Access the GLRI Action Plan (click here). Access the GLRI website for links to additional information and background (click here).

Eleven Soil Erosion & Sediment Control Grants

Jul 23: The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) recently announced eleven grants totaling almost $300,000 were recently announced by the Great Lakes Basin Program for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control. The awards went to applicants in six of the eight Great Lakes states and were selected by GLC's Sediment Task Force from 84 applications received during this year’s application cycle. Over $2 million was requested by 84 applicants but budget constraints limited total funding.

Basin Program grant awards included $30,000 to the Ullr Mountain Gully Erosion and Sediment Control Project in Grand Marais, MN; $35,000 to the Menomonee River Erosion Control Project in Milwaukee, WI; $30,000 to the Silver Creek Super Project in Grayling, MI; $12,459 to the St. Joseph River Watershed Soil Erosion/Sediment Control Project in Hillsdale, MI; $29, 891 to research on “Stabilizing Nutrient-Rich Cropland with Cover Crops and Targeted Zone-Tillage” by Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI; $30,000 to the “Cover it Green” project in Norwalk, OH; $10,500 to Lorain County Erosion and Sediment Control in Elyria, OH; $30,000 to Cascade Creek Watershed Improvements in Erie, PA; $30,000 to Eighteenmile Creek Streambank Restoration and Erosion Control in East Aurora, NY; $30,000 to the Genesee River Watershed Soil Erosion Control Project in Rochester, NY; and $24,200 to the St. Lawrence and Franklin County Ag Soil Erosion Sediment project in Canton, NY.

Access an announcement from GLC and link to further details on the projects (click here). Access the GLC Soil Erosion and Sediment Control program website for more information (click here).

$5 Million RFP For Atmospheric Deposition Network Operations

Jul 22: U.S. EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) is requesting applications for an estimated $5 million in funding over five years for the management and operation of the Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network (IADN) and to potentially conduct additional special studies and enhancements to IADN. Applications for the funding are due by August 17, 2009 by midnight, CDT.

GLNPO expects to make funding available for the management and operation of IADN October 1, 2009, to September 30, 2014, and for potential additional special studies and enhancements to IADN. EPA is requesting that applicants submit applications for up to $760,000 for Year 1, followed by four more years of funding, adjusted roughly for inflation, for an estimated total of up to $5 million over five years.

IADN is called for in Annex 15 of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. IADN is a binational cooperative effort between EPA and Environment Canada aimed at estimating atmospheric deposition of Persistent, Bioaccumulative, Toxic substances (PBTs) to the Great Lakes. It is used as a platform for conducting research, monitoring, and surveillance activities to assess the atmospheric deposition of PBTs to the Great Lakes. IADN presently collects data on the deposition of toxic pollutants (PCBs, PBDEs, organochlorine pesticides, and PAHs) to the Great Lakes at 15 sites (5 in the U.S.) through wet and dry deposition and gas exchange.

Access links to the complete application and related background information (click here).

$1.2 million For Two Clean Diesel Great Lakes Marine Vessels

Jul 21: U.S. EPA Region 5 announced that it awarded more than $1.2 million to the Great Lakes Commission (GLC) to put cleaner diesel engines in two Great Lakes self-unloading bulk carrier marine vessels. Bharat Mathur, acting regional administrator said, "Investing in clean diesel projects in the Great Lakes region will protect public health, bolster the economy and create green jobs.These Recovery Act funds will move us one step closer to a clean energy future."

The funds are provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program. Under this funding competition, EPA Region 5 alone received 81 grant applications requesting $211 million to help fund clean diesel emissions projects. The announced awards were chosen to maximize both economic impact and emissions reductions. ARRA allotted the National Clean Diesel Campaign a total of $300 million, of which the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program received $156 million to fund competitive grants across the nation. ARRA also included $20 million for the National Clean Diesel Emerging Technology Program grants and $30 million for the SmartWay Clean Diesel Finance Program grants. In addition, under the Act's State Clean Diesel Grant program, a total of $88.2 million has been provided to states for clean diesel projects through a noncompetitive allocation process.

According to a release from GLC, four 30-year-old generators on two Great Lakes bulk carriers will be repowered next winter with cleaner, more fuel-efficient diesel engines with help from a $1.2 million federal stimulus grant recently awarded to the Great Lakes Commission. The grant will support a $1.6 million project to be carried out at a Wisconsin shipyard on two self-unloading vessels owned and operated by the American Steamship Company (ASC) of Williamsville, NY. The 900-horsepower diesel generator sets, two on each vessel, were original equipment on the 770-foot M/V St. Clair built in 1976 and the 1,000-foot M/V Indiana Harbor built in 1979. The units are used to supply electrical power to the vessels. The two ASC vessels operate primarily in the iron ore, coal and stone trades between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes.

Access a release from EPA with links to more information on ARRA and the clean diesel initiatives (click here). Access a release from GLC with further details on the project (click here).

Restoration Initiative Interagency Funding Guide

Jul 20: In connection with U.S. EPA's recently announced Great Lakes Restoration Initiative meetings and comment opportunities on the Multi-Year Restoration Action Plan Outline [See WIMS 7/14/09], the Initiative has also released an Interagency Funding Guide, developed in order to provide one-stop-shopping for applicants interested in applying for over $250 million in grants and project agreements which would be expected to be available through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (if the full $475 million for the Initiative is appropriated). The comment period on the Restoration Plan extends until August 19.

These grants and project agreements are intended to jump-start achievement of the Initiative’s long term goals: safely eating the fish and swimming at our beaches, assuring safe drinking water, and providing a healthy ecosystem for fish and wildlife.

Access the Interagency Funding Guide (click here). Access the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative website with links to plan documents, commenting instructions and related information (click here).