WASHINGTON-Clamping down on Asian carp, cleaning up toxic trouble spots, and restoring the sturgeon population are among the goals of a $2.2-billion plan for the Great Lakes that was recently announced by the US government.
In late February, the Obama administration released details of a five-year strategy to improve the five lakes, which together account for a fifth of the world's fresh water.
Speaking at a news conference in Washington, Lisa Jackson of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the action plan is "about creating a new standard of care for the Great Lakes system."
The goal is not merely to minimize harm, but to make significant improvements, stressed the EPA head. "Our new standard of care is to leave the Great Lakes better for the next generation than the condition in which we inherited them," she declared.
The 41-page blueprint identifies a number of targets to reach within five years, through a collaborative effort among federal agencies, state and tribal governments, and private organizations.
Invasive species represent one of the key areas of concern. Some $60 million will go towards the curtailment of Asian carp-a plague suspected to have already spread into Lake Michigan-but resources will also be committed to the control of less conspicuous (but equally worrisome) pests.
By 2014, the US expects to have cut invasions nearly in half, with a target to reduce the rate at which foreign nasties enter the lakes by 40 percent.
The plan also calls for a cleanup of the basin's most polluted areas; remediation of more than 500,000 acres of degraded wetlands; and a stricter approach to phosphorous runoff.
Restoring indigenous species is another focus. Some native fish would logically rebound with the removal of chemicals and foreign competition, but the plan also commits to some stocking programs, including the planting of 25,000 young lake sturgeon-an ancient-looking creature of the depths that can exceed two metres in length and live, in some cases, for a century or more.
This unusual fish still inhabits the Great Lakes but in drastically reduced numbers, as a result of overharvesting and habitat destruction. The lake sturgeon is listed as endangered internationally and considered a species of special concern (one rank below threatened) in Ontario.
The Obama plan for the Great Lakes has been generally welcomed by US governors, with one, Ohio's Ted Strickland, expressing satisfaction during the news conference that the strategy is "an action plan and not a study."
Environmental groups south of the border have also been mostly favourable, with a representative of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition praising the plan's long-range commitment, although some groups feel extra money is required and that too much of the allotment for restoration is going towards the Asian carp front-a battle they say should be waged through a separate funding envelope.
Whatever its shortcomings, the Obama plan for the Great Lakes is certainly a step in the right direction, and more US funds could be channeled in this direction in coming years. During his campaign in 2008, the American president pledged $5 billion over a decade to deal with the problems afflicting the lakes.
It also puts Canada's efforts in sharp contrast. The Toronto Star, in a recent editorial, applauded the US move, while questioning why our country hasn't taken a similar approach.
The American plan might be "short on details," the Star mused, but it does identify "the most urgent threats facing the lakes," while committing considerable resources, and setting strong targets, towards addressing these issues.
"So where," asks the Star, "is Canada's plan? Troublingly, it seems our federal government is not nearly as concerned about the health of the lakes."
Great Lakes United, an international citizens' coalition dedicated to protecting and restoring the Great Lakes, also feels Canada is lagging behind the US when it comes to developing a robust and wide-ranging plan for the resource.
Such observers argue that investing now in a strategy to keep the lakes clean, and free of intruders like Asian carp, will ultimately prove cheaper than having to deal with the consequences of these hazards later on.
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