Great Lakes Restoration Policy

The health of the Great Lakes is breaking down due to the ongoing impacts of multiple stressors including invasive species, sewage contamination, habitat destruction and pollution. In addition, proposed sulfide mining in the Lake Superior basin would severely impair the Lakes. At the same time, climate change threatens to lower lake levels, worsen water quality and increase biological dead zones.

As co-chair of the Healing Our Waters® - Great Lakes Coalition, the National Wildlife Federation is working to implement a comprehensive restoration plan – the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy.

The strategy for restoring and protecting the Great Lakes calls for:

• Halting new invasive species introductions
• Stopping raw sewage from contaminating the Lakes
• Reducing polluted run-off by protecting wetlands
• Cleaning up toxic harbors
• Addressing mercury pollution
• Ensuring that sound science will be used to evaluate the success of the restoration effort
• Promoting fiscal accountability of the restoration plan and process

Invasive Species

More than 185 aquatic invasive species have entered the lakes, disrupting the food chain, fouling beaches and damaging infrastructure. A new invasive species is discovered every 28 weeks on average. The National Wildlife Federation is advocating for strong standards on ballast water discharges by promoting effective legislation and by pursuing legal challenges to ensure that the Clean Water Act is upheld.

Sewage Contamination

Antiquated wastewater systems spill at least 24 billion gallons of sewage into the lakes every year - contaminating drinking water and closing beaches across the Great Lakes. The National Wildlife Federation is working to increase federal investment in local communities' ability to modernize sewage systems. We are also working to restore wetlands, which help reduce the runoff and flooding that overburden sewage systems and lead to raw sewage overflows.

Great Lakes Wetlands

Great Lakes wetlands are supposed to be protected through federal and state programs. However, over half of the wetlands in the Great Lakes region are gone, and coastal wetland losses are as high as 95 percent in Western Lake Erie. To improve the effectiveness of wetlands protection, the Great Lakes Regional Center examined the wetland protection and restoration programs in Great Lakes states to find how well each state is protecting wetlands and offer recommendations for improvement.

Toxic Harbors

A legacy of toxic discharges into the Great Lakes is resulting persistent, high concentrations of pollutants in the sediments of Great Lakes rivers and harbors that threaten the health of people, fish and wildlife. Fourty-three contaminated harbors were identified as Areas of Concern in 1987 and after over 20 years, only one site has been cleaned up. The Great Lakes Regional Center is working to accelerate the pace of cleanup through more robust federal investment, so that drinking water, fish consumption and public health advisories can be removed.

Sulfide Mining in the Lake Superior Basin

Lake Superior is threatened by sulfide mining, a type of mining that has been proven deadly to rivers, wildlife, streams and communities in other parts of the U.S. An international mining company has proposed a sulfide mine in public forests near Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, directly below two world-class trout streams. The Great Lakes Regional Center is fighting the mining company in court to protect Great Lakes water, wildlife and communities.
 
Great Lakes Restoration and Global Warming

The impacts of the Earth's climate warming are already being observed in the Great Lakes. The National Wildlife Federation is working to confront global warming by reducing greenhouse gas pollution. At the same time, we are working to restore the resiliency of the Great Lakes so the lakes can buffer the impacts of global warming. Restoration strategies that increase the lakes’ ability to withstand stress compliment and support efforts to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.

Additional resources:

Great Lakes Restoration and the Threat of Climate Change (PDF) 

Protecting and Restoring the Kidneys of the Great Lakes: An Assessment of Wetlands Programs in Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin (PDF) 

The Eagle Mine Project - Sulfide Ore Mining in Marquette Co. (Michigan) (PDF)