Continuing Collaboration for Cleaner Lakes

摘要

Fair and unchanging: That is the overall assessment of the biennial 2019 State of the Great Lakes report. While the overall assessment of the current report's nine indicators of ecosystem health remains unchanged from the 2017 report, there has been notable progress, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). U.S. EPA released this new report June 3 in conjunction with Environment and Climate Change Canada. The report is generated through input from more than 180 Great Lakes scientists and other experts and in accordance with the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Both the 2017 and 2019 reports note there has been progress to restore the health of the lakes in such areas as toxic chemical reduction, but battles persist to control the effects of nutrients and invasive species. The 2017 report additionally notes, "the ecosystem is large and complex and it can take years to respond to restoration activities and policy changes." About $900 million from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) - a program devised in 2010 to provide funding to Great Lakes states to speed up the lakes' protection and restoration - has been spent since the 2017 report was issued. In the last year alone, the initiative has released the Great Lakes Action Plan 3 and a grant program called Trash Free Waters.