Healing Our Waters Coalition » Success Stories

No longer endangered, Lake Erie watersnake is thriving

Jeff Alexander — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:34:33 +0000

The Lake Erie watersnake recently became just the 23rd species to be taken off the federal Endangered Species list.

Found only on Lake Erie’s islands, the watersnake was driven to the brink of extinction in the 1990s by residents who considered it a nuisance. Residents killed thousands of the snakes and destroyed much of its habitat.

An intense effort to restore the watersnake’s habitat and educate the public about its role in the ecosystem of Lake Erie’s islands nurtured the snake’s population back to nearly 12,000 animals.

The Lake Erie watersnake population on the Lake Erie islands has recovered to nearly 12,000 animals.An intense public education campaign and habitat restoration efforts restored the watersnake's population to nearly 12,000 animals. That recovery allowed the watersnake to join the bald eagle, American alligator and peregrine falcon as imperiled species that recovered to the extent that they were no longer considered endangered under federal law.

Cleanup removed tons of toxins from Milwaukee River

Jeff Alexander — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:23:47 +0000

A $24 million dredging project that wrapped up earlier this year removed thousands of pounds of toxic PCBs and other pollutants from the Milwaukee River estuary.

The cleanup removed the largest source of PCBs in the river and will reduce contaminant levels in fish. It will also advance efforts to remove the Milwaukee River from the list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern.

The project was funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Read more here.

Lamprey barrier will help protect Lake Michigan fishery

Jeff Alexander — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:49:39 +0000

The government has upped its game in the eternal effort to reduce the number of sea lamprey in the Great Lakes.

State and federal agencies recently completed construction of a $1.6 million sea lamprey barrier in Trail Creek, a Lake Michigan tributary in northern Indiana. The barrier will prevent sea lamprey from spawning in the creek, which will reduce the number of these monstrous, blood-sucking invaders in Lake Michigan.

The barrier and other efforts to control sea lamprey are paramount to efforts to maintain a healthy Great Lakes fishery. Each sea lamprey can consume up to 40 pounds of fish during its time in the lakes.

Sea lamprey are the biggest threat to the Great Lakes Fishery. (Great Lakes Fishery Commission photo)

Sea lamprey nearly eliminated the lake trout and whitefish fisheries in all the Great Lakes in the first half of the 20th century. The formation of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission in 1954 launched a full-scale war on sea lamprey.

That effort has reduced the sea lamprey population by 90 percent in most ares of the lakes. But because there is no way yet to eliminate sea lamprey from the Great Lakes, efforts to keep their numbers in check will continue for the foreseeable future.

The Great Lakes Fishery Commission spends about $20 million annually to control sea lamprey populations. That’s a small price to pay when you consider that the sea lamprey, if left unchecked, could wipe out a Great Lakes fishery valued at $7 billion.

Go here to read more about the sea lamprey barrier in Trail Creek.

Habitat work restoring Lake Superior headwaters

Jeff Alexander — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:03:32 +0000

A nearly $1 million project in the headwaters of Lake Superior is transforming a Great Lakes Area of Concern into a haven for fish, birds and outdoors enthusiasts.

Restoration of fish and wildlife habitat in Hog Island Inlet and Newton Creek is a followup to a $6.3 million project that dredged 50,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the Wisconsin waters. The habitat work is funded by a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The habitat work will improve ecosystem function in the headwaters of Lake Superior. Go here to learn more about the project.

Huge cleanup brings lower Ashtabula River back to life

Jeff Alexander — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 03:06:23 +0000

After decades of abuse and neglect, Ohio’s Ashtabula River is reclaiming some of its natural grandeur.

More boaters and anglers are visiting the lower Ashtabula River, following a massive cleanup and habitat restoration project. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency photo)

A $60 million pollution cleanup, followed by a $1.5 million habitat project funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, removed 630,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the river and created 1,500 fish of prime fish habitat.

The projects have made the lower river more attractive to anglers and boaters and suitable for commercial shipping. Read more about the project here.

GLRI is beginning to pay off for the Great Lakes

Jeff Alexander — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:24:20 +0000

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is beginning to produce significant benefits, according to a federal official.

Projects launched during the first two years of funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative have restored thousands of acres of wetlands, reduced beach closures in Chicago and beaten back the advance of Asian carp, said Cameron Davis, special advisor to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson.

“We’re starting to see results from the first two years of funding,” Davis said Friday. “We’re off to a very good start … but the Great Lakes aren’t going to be restored overnight.”

Davis, the EPA’s point person on Great Lakes issues, made his comments during a speech at the Saginaw Bay Watershed Conference.

Saginaw Bay is one of 41 Great Lakes Areas of Concern due to historic pollution that contaminated bottom sediments, fish and wildlife. EPA officials have said restoring Saginaw Bay is an agency priority.

President Obama launched the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in 2010; the president and Congress approved $1 billion for the GLRI during the first three years of the program.

The president is seeking another $300 million for the program in fiscal 2013 and has pledged to seek funding for the GLRI beyond 2014.

“If we want the Great Lakes to take care of us we need to take care of the Great Lakes,” Davis said. “That’s what the GLRI does.”

To date, the GLRI has funded more than 600 projects aimed at reducing toxic pollution, restoring wetlands, reducing polluted runoff and preventing new invasive species from colonizing the lake.

Davis said GLRI projects launched in 2010 and 2011 have:

Restored more than 20,000 acres of Great Lakes wetlands.
Contributed to Chicago in 2011 recording its fewest beach closures due to bacterial pollution in the past five years.
Made progress in cleaning up toxic sediments and restoring fish and wildlife habitat in Great Lakes Areas of Concern.
Stopped the northerly advance of Asian carp in the Wabash River in Indiana and the Chicago Waterway System. The federal government has spent $150 million to date in a bid to keep Asian carp in the Mississippi River system from invading the Great Lakes, Davis said. No reproducing populations of Asian carp have been found in the lakes.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is documenting Great Lakes restoration success stories. Go here to read those stories.

Small project creates big benefits for Wisconsin creek

Jeff Alexander — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:19:32 +0000

A fish passage project in the northern Wisconsin town of Marengo cost less than $15,000, but it could provide huge dividends for a popular trout stream.

Government crews installed two rock weirs in Troutmere Creek to elevate water levels in the creek. The higher water allows fish to swim through a culvert that previously was above the water level most of the time.

Two rock weirs in Troutmere Creek will allow fish to bypass a culvert and reach more than two miles of creek upstream of the road crossing. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo)

The project will give trout and other fish species access to more than two miles of prime habitat upstream of the culvert and road crossing.

All of that for less than $15,000: What a bargain. Read the story here.

Project improves fishery in Pennsylvania stream

Jeff Alexander — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 23:55:49 +0000

Steelhead and other Lake Erie fish now have access to four miles of spawning habitat in a Pennsylvania stream, thanks to an innovative approach to an unusual problem.

State and federal officials worked together to restore fish passage in Fourmile Creek, located just east of Erie, Pa. Excessive stormwater runoff caused scouring of the creek bed, which created a small waterfall that blocked fish passage to the upper part of the waterway.

A $130,000 project, funded in part by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, created a concrete raceway that allows fish to swim past the barrier and reach the upper portion of Fourmile Creek. Read more.

Cleanup removes tons of toxins from Milwaukee River

Jeff Alexander — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:26:34 +0000

State and federal agencies on Friday announced the completion of a $24.6 million sediment cleanup that moves the Milwaukee Estuary closer to being removed from a list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern.

The $24.6 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative project removed about 140,000 cubic yards of sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PCBs and PAHs. The contamination led to limits on eating fish caught in the river, as well as loss of habitat and other environmental problems.

Completion of the project was announced by officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Milwaukee County.

“Thousands of cubic yards of harmful contaminated sediment were removed to help boost human, ecological and local economic health,” said Cameron Davis, Senior Advisor to the EPA Administrator. “But we can’t stop here. We’re looking for new partners to match funds to accelerate cleanups in other Areas of Concern in Wisconsin and around the Great Lakes.”

Crews dredged 140,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the Milwaukee River. (Milwaukeee Riverkeeper photo)

The GLRI’s Legacy Act covered $16 million of the project cost; the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources contributed $8.6 million. The result was the cleanup of the largest known deposit of PCB-contaminated sediment in the Milwaukee River Area of Concern.

“We are making major strides cleaning up the Milwaukee River Estuary,” said WDNR Secretary Cathy Stepp. “With our partners we will continue to work to bring the Milwaukee River back to provide recreational and economic benefits for the Milwaukee area.”

The Milwaukee River section of the Area of Concern extends from Cedar Creek downstream through the Outer Harbor. It includes Cedar Creek, Lincoln Creek and portions of the Menomonee, Little Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers.

In the 1980s, the U.S. and Canada identified 43 highly degraded shoreline areas along the Great Lakes. Today there are 30 AOCs wholly in the U.S. or shared with Canada.

The Great Lakes are the largest source of surface freshwater on the planet. The lakes provide drinking water for 30 million people and support one of the world’s largest regional economies.

Past studies have shown that every $1 invested in restoring the Great Lakes produces $2 of economic activity in the region.

What a deal: $246,000 restores miles of trout stream

Jeff Alexander — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:44:42 +0000

The Conservation Resource Alliance in northern Michigan has proven yet again that restoring the Great Lakes is a bargain.

The Alliance recently removed a dam on a creek in northern Michigan and, in the process, restored natural conditions in seven miles of a once-thriving trout stream. The cost of this very significant project, funded in part by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, was $246,000.

That’s a significant chunk of change, but it’s a relative pittance when you consider the ecological and economic values of a healthy trout stream.

Removing the Wheeler Creek dam will increase the trout population, reduce soil erosion and liberate a stretch of water that was harnessed by concrete structures for close to two centuries. The project will also restore the creek’s natural relation to its receiving water: The Manistee River, which is a major tributary of Lake Michigan.

Wheeler Creek is flowing free again after an obsolete dam was removed. (Conservation Resource Alliance photo)

Go here to learn more about this project.