A NATIONAL TREASURE PROTECTED
            The Great Lakes are truly a national treasure for both the United States and Canada – a unique and extraordinary natural resource.
            Together the five lakes, Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario contain one-fifth of the fresh water on the earth’s surface. Over 90 percent of United States surface water is in these lakes. The watershed, the area where all the rivers and streams drain into the lakes, is about 295,000 square miles.
            Improving the quality of the water in the lakes had been aided by, and complicated by, the fact that there are so many organizations, agencies, and governmental units from two countries bordering the 10,000 miles of coastline. A collaborative effort, initiated in 2004 by President Bush, eventually resulted in a Great Lakes Regional Collaboration (GLRC) Strategy to Restore and Protect the Great Lakes that was released on December 12, 2005.
            Priorities addressed in that Strategy are: aquatic invasive species, habitat conservation and species management, coastal health, sediment concerns, non-point sources, toxic pollutants, information base and indicators, and sustainability. Previous efforts address the issues of dumping and discharge of pollutants into the lakes from identifiable point sources.
            Also in December of 2005, the Governors of the states bordering the Great Lakes reached agreement on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, At the same time, a similar, good faith, agreement with Ontario and Quebec was reached.
            During 2007 and 2008, each of the eight Great Lakes State legislatures ratified the Compact. The U.S. Senate completed legislative approval on August 1, 2008, and the U.S. House of Representatives approved it on September 23, 2008. A press release from the Council of Great Lakes Governors (CGLG) issued on October 3, 2008 announced that President Bush signed the Great Lakes Compact. The President’s action marks the final step in the Compact’s approval process thus enabling the necessary protections to become law. Hopefully, funding will follow.
            The provisions of the Compact include: fostering economic development through sustainable use and responsible management of the waters; a ban on new diversions of water from the Basin – exceptions will have a clear, predictable decision-making process; consistent standards for States to use to review proposed uses of Basin water; development of regional goals and objectives for water conservation; implementation of conservation and efficiency programs by states with a five year review required; and strong commitment to public involvement in the implementation.
            The Great Lakes are a national treasure—important to our nation and the world as both an environmental and economic asset. As citizens of a state that shares the coastline of the Great Lakes, we can express our support for these collaborative efforts to promote and protect the health of the Great Lakes.
            This information and more can be found at www.cglg.org, www.epa.gov/greatlakes, www.glrc.us, and www.great-lakes.net. 

Della Moen, Earth Team Volunteer, NRCS/Stephenson Soil and Water
Conservation District, an equal opportunity provider and employer, 10/15/08/ (for publication on 10/25/08 in the Journal-Standard, Freeport, Illinois).
Della can be reached at info@stephensonswcd.org