U.S. and Canada Strengthen Great Lakes Cooperation

A memo of cooperation signed Thursday by provincial ministers and Ontario representatives of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative commits them to consulting and cooperating on issues of municipal interest and responsibility around the Great Lakes. The signing took place at the annual conference of the Cities Initiative, in Toronto.

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative is a binational coalition of over 50 mayors and other municipal officials from Canada and the U.S. interested in the health and well-being of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River system.

The memo was signed by Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen, Natural Resources Minister Donna Cansfield and Leona Dombrowsky, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Environment Minister Gerretsen said, "Today we formally recognize the importance of engaging municipalities as key partners in sustaining the health and vitality of the Great Lakes for our benefit, but also for our children and future generations."

Signing on behalf of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities initiative was Mayor Lynn Peterson of Thunder Bay, incoming chair of the Cities Initiative.

"By signing this agreement today, we are ensuring that our joint efforts to protect the Great Lakes, provincially and locally, will have the greatest positive impact for our communities," Peterson said. "The Cities Initiative looks forward to working closely with Ontario municipalities and the Ontario Government on future Great Lakes decisions."

Toronto Mayor David Miller, founding Canadian chair of the Cities Initiative and conference host, said, "This memorandum of cooperation represents the beginning of an important strategic partnership between the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, Ontario Great Lakes municipalities and the Ontario government. From Nipigon in the North to Toronto in the South, Ontario municipalities are investing over $2 billion to protect the Great Lakes every year."

Canada geese fly into the sunset over Goderich, Ontario on the shore of Lake Huron. (Photo by L. Michael Roberts)

Deb Shewfelt, mayor of the Ontario town of Goderich on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, says he and other Great Lakes region mayors finally have an equal voice in developing and maintaining the lakes.

At the conference, Shewfelt said he is encouraged by the attitude of the Ontario government led by Premier Dalton McGuinty, which has made a commitment to consulting municipalities on any decisions affecting the lakes.

On the U.S. side of the Great Lakes, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has signed legislation ratifying the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact.

All eight Great Lakes states and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec now have approved the agreement, which ensures that authority over Great Lakes water usage is retained in the region, and promotes efforts toward water conservation and efficiency.

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, chair of the Council of Great Lakes Governors, said, "It is gratifying to see our region uniting as never before to protect the Great Lakes. We must now build on this momentum, working with our congressional partners to turn these protections into law."

Now, the focus shifts to the U.S. Congress which must grant its consent for the Compact to become law.

Support in Congress appears to be building. According to the Council of Great Lakes Governors, more than 20 members of Congress, including both of the presumptive nominees of the major parties - Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a Great Lakes state, and Senator McCain of Arizona - have expressed their support for the Compact.

In addition to safeguarding Great Lakes water from diversion from the basin without consent of the signatory states and provinces, the Compact provides a comprehensive management framework for achieving sustainable water use and resource protection.

The eight Great Lakes States reached a similar good faith agreement with Ontario and Quebec in 2005, which the provinces are using to amend their existing water programs for greater regional consistency.

In Muskegon, Michigan earlier this month, U.S. federal and state officials met to launch a new partnership to transform a Great Lakes toxic hot spot into a Great Lakes prime vacation spot.

Serving in his capacity as chair of the Great Lakes Commission, Michigan Lt. Governor John Cherry announced a partnership between the Commission and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, to begin restoring fish and wildlife in Great Lakes Areas of Concern. These 43 toxic hot spots were designated under the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

The partnership's initial focus is Muskegon Lake, where contaminated sediments, industrial discharges and shoreline development have degraded water quality and damaged the lake's once abundant fish and wildlife.

Over the years nearly three-quarters of the lake's shoreline has been hardened with concrete and other structures, and more than one-quarter of the lake filled with residue from sawmills and industrial operations.

The three-year, $3.4 million Muskegon Lake Habitat Restoration Project will restore 73 acres of wetlands, soften 18,000 feet of hardened shoreline, and remove nearly nine acres of fill.

The project will be partially funded by NOAA's Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program, a new effort to engage the agency's skills and experience in restoring fish and wildlife in the Great Lakes. It will be implemented jointly by the Great Lakes Commission, NOAA and the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission.

Outoing Chairman of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, Mayor Gary Becker of Racine, Wisconsin said, "The identity of communities along the Great Lakes is so closely tied to these waters. ... Coming together as a region, as we are doing with the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, is critical to addressing contamination at our beaches and within the Lakes on a larger scale. For the sake of the Lakes, this regional effort needs to succeed."

On Friday at the conference, Mayor Lynn Peterson of Thunder Bay, Ontario was chosen as the 2008/2009 chair of the organization.

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