“Millions of people are counting on the next president of the United States to stand up for the Great Lakes,” said Jeff Skelding, campaign director for the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “Great Lakes programs are producing results in communities around the region—but there is more work to do. Cutting restoration funding and failing to take action on the Asian carp will cost taxpayers more money because problems will only become more difficult and expensive the longer we wait.”

The pledge reads: “As a candidate for President of the United States of America, I will not put off addressing the nation’s most severe problems. Therefore, I pledge to make Great Lakes protection and restoration a priority within my administration.”

The “Great Lakes Protection and Restoration Candidate Pledge” asks all the candidates to support funding for the federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and action to separate the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins to protect U.S. waters from invasive species like the Asian carp. Read the full pledge at: http://bit.ly/2012GLpledge

Release of the pledge comes as Republican presidential hopefuls begin to compete for votes in Great Lakes states. Minnesota holds its caucus today, with Michigan holding its primary on February 28 and Ohio hosting its contest on March 6, Super Tuesday.

The Great Lakes region promises to play a major role in the 2012 elections, as candidates vie for votes in electoral-rich “battleground” states such as Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.

Great Lakes restoration has played prominently in the last two presidential elections.

In 2004, in the heat of a challenging re-election bid, then-president George Bush signed an executive order declaring the Great Lakes a resource of national significance and established the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration. The effort brought more than 1,500 people together to craft a plan to restore and protect the Great Lakes. The $20 billion plan—the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy—has been widely credited with galvanizing support for Great Lakes restoration among conservation, business, industry and civic leaders in the eight-state region of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

In 2008, then-candidates Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney all committed their support to restore the Great Lakes.  After candidate Obama signed the Great Lakes pledge, he released a 5-point plan to restore the Lakes. In his first year in the White House, President Obama launched the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a multi-year investment in the Great Lakes aimed at confronting urgent problems such as invasive species, habitat destruction, toxic pollution and dirty run-off from farms and cities.

“Presidential leadership,” said Skelding, “has been essential in the effort to restore and protect the Great Lakes.”

Support for restoration activities by the last two presidents has helped the country make strides in restoring the Lakes. Progress can be seen in communities across the region:

• Fish and wildlife are returning to places after decades-long absences;
• Businesses are emerging and thriving on restored waterfronts; and
• People are fishing, kayaking and swimming in restored waterways.

Despite the progress, there are continued signs that the Great Lakes need help:

• Algae blooms are returning in Lake Erie, hurting tourism, small businesses and fishing;
• Fish consumption advisories and beach closures still persist; and
• New threats like the Asian carp have been discovered within the Lakes.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is dedicated to ensuring that the next president and Congress maintain the nation’s commitment to restore and protect the Great Lakes.

“We are making progress so the nation cannot let its guard down in the effort to protect the Great Lakes,” said Skelding. “We need the next president to show leadership on this issue. Great Lakes restoration is not a Democratic or Republican issue—it is an issue of national significance and utmost urgency. Standing up for the Great Lakes is like standing up for the Grand Canyon or Everglades. We’re asking each presidential candidate to commit to restoring a piece of America that helps define who we are as a people and nation.”

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition consists of 120 environmental, conservation, outdoor recreation organizations, zoos, aquariums and museums representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes. Learn more at: www.healthylakes.org

For Immediate Release:
February 7, 2012

Contact:
Jordan Lubetkin, 734-904-1589, Lubetkin@nwf.org

Related posts:

• Coalition Convenes in D.C. to Urge Action on Great Lakes Restoration, Economic Recovery
• Obama, Clinton Pick up the Gauntlet and Sign the Great Lakes Pledge
• Groups call for emergency action to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes
• Mr. President: The Asian Carp Crisis has hit ‘Code Red’
• We Want a Committment to Save the Lakes and We Want it Now!
• Action on Asian Carp
• Senate Action on Asian Carp
• Stop Asian Carp Act of 2011

Doable, affordable: Conceptual rendering of Asian carp barrier on the Calumet River. Photo/ Great Lakes Commission

This just in: We have a solution to stop Asian carp for a price that will not break the bank.

A new study, released today by the Great Lakes Commission and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, lays out solutions to stop invasive species like the Asian carp from using man-made canals connecting the Great Lakes and Mississippi River from spreading throughout U.S. waters, where they inflict damage on the environment and economy.

The report offers three different scenarios to sever the man-made connection between the two iconic waters by building a barrier (or barriers). The cost: between $3 billion and $9.5 billion.

Commenting on the report, here’s what the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition’s Jeff Skelding had to say:

“The study has the potential to be a game-changer in the effort to restore and protect the Great Lakes. It proves that we have affordable solutions to the Asian carp crisis that benefit both our environment and economy. This report should put an end to excuse-making and food-dragging and light a fire under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to do its job so that the nation can move forward on a solution to protect the Great Lakes and the jobs which depend on them.”

The study underscores three things:

1. We can do this. The study lays out in black and white that we have the technology to block the spread of harmful aquatic invasive species. As Tim Eder of the Great Lakes Commission, explained on a Michigan Public Radio report, it’s like building an earthen dam to sever the artificial connection. The solutions outlined in the report are more than feasible, they are eminently doable. Look at the above artist rendering from the summary report issued today. Anyone familiar with modern ports will see that we can do this. Today.

2. We can afford this. The price tag will attract attention, and it should. Costs ranging from $3 billion to $9.5 billion are not cheap—but they’re not exorbitant either. In fact, I see it as a bargain for several reasons.

First, the Great Lakes are worth that—and so much more. The investment will go to protect a global resource that supplies drinking water to more than 30 million people. More than 1.5 million people depend on it for their jobs—worth more than $60 billion in wages annually. The sport fishing industry alone is valued at $7 billion per year. Recreational boating is valued at $16 billion. To be sure the Asian carp and other species don’t threaten all of that—but no one can argue that the non-native fish don’t present a clear a present danger to both the environment and economy.

Second, those costs are in-line with what cities need to do to maintain infrastructure and keep their cities functioning. Maintaining roads, bridges and sewers costs money. Midwestern cities such as Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee have multi-year, multi-billion plans to upgrade their sewers. The carp barrier can be viewed as a regional infrastructure investment that will benefit citizens in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. In fact:

Third, the whole region benefits from stopping the spread of Asian carp and other invasive species. The region’s citizens, cities and businesses have paid a steep price for invasive species (see below). Similarly, the entire region will benefit from preventing further invasions. The study estimates that the region will save between $1.4 billion and $9 billion by erecting the barriers.

Fourth, if we don’t pay now, we’re going to pay a lot more later. Invasive species are living, breathing biological pollution. Once they take hold, they’re impossible to eradicate—as are their damages. Invasive species introduced via ballast water cost Great Lakes citizens, utilities and cities at least $200 million per year. What’s more, it costs roughly $20 billion to manage the invasive sea lamprey. (If you want to see an ecosystem turned on its head by invasive species, see reports by Washington Post and BBC on impacts from the Burmese pythons in Florida’s Everglades National Park.)
 
It’s clear that if we don’t take action now, the problem will only get worse and more costly. Or, as Dave Ullrich of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative told the Associated Press: “Yes, it’s expensive. But the cost of doing nothing is greater.”

3. We need to move faster towards a solution. The Asian carp crisis has been brewing for years, yet federal action to solve the problem has moved at a snail’s pace. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been tasked with offering its own study of options to separate the Great Lakes and Mississippi River. It has dragged its feet since 2007—and claims, incredibly—that it won’t complete its own study until 2015 at the earliest.

That’s not acceptable. The U.S. Army Corps needs to expedite its study—and incorporate the findings of the new study.

Congress can help advance solutions to this problem in two ways:

1. Maintain strong support for interim measures. The Great Lakes congressional delegation needs to support policy action and necessary funding to support an aggressive, strategic short-term plan to beat back the Asian carp until a long-term solution can be implemented. It’s going to take years to solve this problem. The Great Lakes congressional delegation needs to remain united and vigilant so that we can buy time for a permanent solution.

2. Pass the Stop Asian Carp Act. The act mandates the U.S. Army Corps to complete its study by 2013 so that the nation can move forward on a solution that protect the Great Lakes and the millions of people which rely on them for their drinking water, jobs and way of life.

Related posts:

• Study: Cargo shipments declining on Chicago canals where Asian carp are spreading
• Stop Asian Carp Act of 2011
• Great Lakes groups call on U.S. Senate to adopt Sen. Stabenow’s Stop Asian Carp Amendment
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Support Asian Carp Amendment
• Newspapers calling for faster action on Asian carp
• Catch of the Day: Asian Carp
• Senate Action on Asian Carp
• Action on Asian Carp

The Grand Calumet River was abused for more than a century by cities and industries that used it as a sewer. Decades of toxic discharges blanketed the river bottom with a thick layer of poisonous mud that fouled the water, drove away every species of fish except carp and goldfish, and coated birds in oil.

A $50 million cleanup of the Grand Calumet’s west branch project aims to reverse the damage and restore life to a river and associated wetlands that once attracted scores of migratory birds.

“We’re returning this to a real river,” said Scott Ireland, a scientist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “We’re already seeing some bird species returning.”

Before the cleanup, the Roxana Marsh was choked with cattails and Phragmites. (EPA photo)

Daniel Sparks, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist who has worked on the Grand Calumet River project since 1989, said aquatic life could return to the river’s west branch soon after the cleanup is finished.

“We’re making real progress; I’m excited,” Sparks said. “Fish could spawn again in this river someday.”

River is one of many Great Lakes toxic hotspots
The Grand Calumet River is one of 42 Great Lakes Areas of Concern. The river flows 13 miles through the heavily industrialized cities of Gary, East Chicago and Hammond, Ind., before flowing into Lake Michigan via the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal.

Roxana Marsh after contaminated sediments and invasive plants were removed. (EPA photo)

The river and harbor — which drain an area that is home to 57 severe pollution sites and wastewater treatment plants that still discharge untreated sewage into the river — contain between 5 million and 10 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment. About 150,000 cubic yards of that polluted sediment washes out of the river and into Lake Michigan annually, according to government studies.

The river’s toxic underbelly was fouled by a witch’s brew of toxic wastes, including oil and grease, heavy metals, PCBs, according to government records.

Cleaning up all of the Grand Calumet River and the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal will cost more than $100 million, according to federal officials.

Since last year, crews working for the U.S. EPA and Indiana Department of Environmental Management have dredged 232,000 cubic yards of toxic sediment from the west branch of the Grand Calumet and one of its largest wetlands, the 19-acre Roxana Marsh. Workers also removed several acres of invasive Phragmites and, in February, will begin depositing a layer of clean sand, clay and rugged fabric on the river bottom that will serve as a cap atop 345,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments that will be left behind.

Ireland said the sand and clay cap would isolate the remaining pollutants from the river and allow the waterway to heal. He said there wasn’t enough money to remove all of the toxic mud.

“In some areas toxins are found 15 feet below the bottom of the river,” Ireland said.

Federal program is cleansing the lakes
Funding for the cleanup came from the EPA’s Great Lakes Legacy Act program and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. State and federal agencies collected $72 million from companies that polluted the river, Ireland said.

The Great Lakes Legacy Act, which is now implemented through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, has proven to be one of the region’s most effective cleanup programs since it was established in 2002.  Money from the program has cleaned up 1.5 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment at sites in Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin. Go here to learn more about the program.

This map shows the location of all 42 Great Lakes Areas of Concern.

U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, a Democrat who represents northern Indiana, championed the Great Lakes Legacy Act in Congress and helped secure funding to clean up the Grand Calumet River.

Visclosky in 2008 told the Post Tribune of Gary, Ind., that the benefits of cleaning up the Grand Calumet extend far beyond the boundaries of the river’s basin.

“It will help improve water quality in all areas downstream, including the Indiana Harbor Ship Canal and Lake Michigan,” Visclosky said. “It is one in a series of historic efforts to clean up over a century of contamination in those waters and return them to their natural purity.”

Ireland, who has worked on the Grand Calumet project for 20 years, said he wasn’t sure the cleanup would ever get off the ground.

“If you had asked me 15 years ago if I thought this river would ever be cleaned up, I would have been hard pressed to say yes,” Ireland said recently. “People thought this river would be polluted forever.”

Cornell Davidson, a lifelong resident of East Chicago, Ind., called the Grand Calumet River cleanup “a very good thing.”

“I’m hoping they can get rid of all of the pollution,” Davidson said. “Maybe it will improve our quality of life and we can live longer.”

Related posts:

• River cleanup fueling Buffalo’s revitalization
• Michigan Restoration Project Removes Pollutants Harmful to Human Health
• Ottawa River Clean-up in Toledo, Ohio, Removes Contaminated Sediments that Pose Risk to People, Wildlife
• Coalition Announces Grants to Help Groups Participate In $475 Million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
• River Clean-up in Detroit, Michigan, Attracts Fish, Wildlife, Economic Development
• Indiana’s Pete Visclosky Gets Cash for Lake Michigan, But Didn’t Push For GLRI Bucks
• Toxic Pollution
• Sample Contest Photo: Steelhead taken on the Grand River, Ohio

Contact:
Jordan Lubetkin, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, 734-887-7109

$200,000 in grants leads to more than $1.6 million in federal funds for restoration projects in high-priority areas

ANN ARBOR, MICH. (Jan. 23, 2012) —The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition today announced that $200,000 in grants it issued in 2010 to help local conservation groups participate in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has resulted in more than $1.6 million in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funds for restoration projects—an 8-to-1 return on investment.

The $200,000 in coalition grants also led to an additional $4.2 million in state, federal and private funds to support restoration work.

“The coalition’s grant program is producing results,” said Jeff Skelding, campaign director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “The program is successfully helping local groups participate in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and other state and federal restoration programs. Our seed grants, and the additional funds they leveraged, will accelerate restoration activities in the areas most in need of restoration and in places that can provide the most ecological benefit.”

A complete list of the coalition’s 2010 grants and evaluation can be found here.

For the past two years, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has awarded grants of up to $15,000 to local groups so that they can compete for federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grants, which support activities to clean up toxic sediments, restore habitat and wetlands, confront invasive species and reduce polluted run-off from cities and farms.

The coalition focuses its grants program in five geographic priority areas, as selected by scientists, where restoration dollars will be most beneficial: The St. Louis River and St. Louis Bay in Lake Superior; the waters of Lake Michigan in the Chicagoland area; Lake Huron’s Saginaw Bay; western Lake Erie and eastern Lake Ontario.

“The coalition grants have provided a boost for local groups that are on the front lines of Great Lakes restoration efforts,” said Jill Ryan, executive director of Freshwater Future, which acts as the Healing Our Waters Coalition’s Implementation Coordinator. “We’re glad to see high-priority areas receive funding and look forward to working with the U.S. EPA to continue investing federal dollars so that we get the most restoration bang for our buck.”

The coalition grants supported a variety of restoration projects that are addressing serious problems facing the Great Lakes, including: phosphorus pollution; noxious algae; failing septic systems; and the invasive reed Phragmites, which is crowding out native plant species at numerous sites across the region. The grants also supported efforts to remove dams, restore wetlands and other fish and wildlife habitat.

Among the coalition’s grant recipients, Alliance for the Great Lakes in Chicago, Ill., received a $15,000 coalition grant, which helped the group win $150,000 from Sustain Our Great Lakes and $226,950 from EPA through the competitive grants process under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

“With a jump start from HOW’s investment, communities up and down the Illinois shoreline are making the most of their unique glacial ravines,” said Angela Larsen, Coastal Program manager for the Alliance for the Great Lakes. “Great Lakes coasts are home to a stunning array of biodiversity, and we’re ecstatic to help landowners make the restoration connection to the lakes.”

Western Lake Erie Waterkeeper Association in Toledo, Ohio, received $15,000 from the coalition, which was leveraged to receive almost $500,000 from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

“Getting a grant for preliminary work to set up an invasive species early detection project in western Lake Erie was great,” said Sandy Bihn, Lake Erie Waterkeeper. “Invasive species pose a real threat to the Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes. The initial small grant helped establish new networks to connect research with Lake Erie community-based education and outreach—collaboration that will continue with the support of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant.”

The Bad River Watershed Association in Ashland, Wis., received a $3,000 grant from the coalition that helped the organization earn a $300,000 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant.

“The Healing Our Waters grant the Bad River Watershed Association (BRWA) received in 2010 was an important part of helping BRWA strengthen relationships with local natural resources partners” said Matt Hudson, Watershed Action Director for the Bad River Watershed Association. “These strong relationships helped BRWA receive a portion of a 2-year GLRI grant in 2011 and lay the foundation for much of our work to maintain and improve the health of the Bad River Watershed.”

The St. Louis River Alliance in Duluth, Minn., received two seed grants from the coalition. The first, for $10,000, led to $250,000 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The second award for $14,976 led to a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for $268,401.

“The coalition grant program provided key funding that made it possible for us to seek Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding,” said Julene Boe, executive director for the St. Louis River Alliance. “I’m very pleased that these efforts were successful in receiving funding for two projects that will make a difference in the St. Louis River Area of Concern.”

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has provided $775 million for Great Lakes restoration projects in its first two years. The program received another $300 million in fiscal year 2012.

Restoring the lakes is good for fish and wildlife, tourism, human health and the economy.  A study by the Brookings Institution found that every $1 investment in Great Lakes restoration leads to $2 in economic benefit for the eight-state region of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

A recent study by Grand Valley State University economists found that a $10 million restoration project at Muskegon Lake in Michigan produced more than $66 million in economic benefits via increased property values, more tourism and higher tax revenues.

“Great Lakes restoration produces results,” said Skelding. “But there is more work to do. We look forward to working with the U.S. Congress and President Obama to maintain funding in the fiscal year 2013 budget for this essential work. Cutting funding will cost more money, because projects will only become more difficult and expensive the longer we wait.”

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition consists of more than 120 environmental, conservation, outdoor recreation organizations, zoos, aquariums and museums representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes.

For more information visit: http://healthylakes.org/

Related posts:

• Coalition Announces Grants to Help Groups Participate In $475 Million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
• Coalition Awards $115,000 in Grants to Help Groups Participate In Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
• Coalition Awards $115,000 in Great Lakes Restoration Grants
• Coalition Submits Comments on Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Calling for Accountability, Action, Urgency
• Coalition: EPA’s $30 Million in Great Lakes Restoration Grants will Produce Results for People across Region
• EPA Announces First of $30 Million in Great Lakes Restoration Grants
• Sustain Our Great Lakes Program Awards $8.5 Million in Restoration Grants
• Healing Our Waters Grants

The Flowing Well Trout Farm, built near Kalkaska, Michigan the mid-1900s, erected 12 small dams to create fish rearing ponds. The dams diverted the north branch of the Manistee River and the Flowing Well Creek, which caused unnaturally high water temperatures, blocked fish passage and disrupted the natural movement of sediment and woody debris in the coldwater trout streams.

Removing the dams restored natural conditions in 37 miles of the streams, which increased the native brook trout population.

Go here for more details on the project.

Related posts:

• Removing dams boosts brook trout population
• Trout stream benefits from changes to road-stream crossings
• In New York, natural conditions return to trout stream
• Crews hit the road to improve a Michigan trout stream
• Reducing erosion could benefit a New York trout stream
• Dam removal improves Michigan river, creates fishery
• Major dam removal project will benefit the Great Lakes
• New bridge restores a trout stream’s natural flow

The president’s budget serves as a framework for congressional budget process and helps set national priorities. The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition will analyze the budget to determine the support of Great Lakes programs such as the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

The coalition will host a briefing for reporters on the budget Wednesday, February 15. (Time to be determined.)

The coalition has worked to maintain funding for essential clean water programs. Congress approved $300 million for the fiscal year 2012 budget. President Obama’s previous three budgets have contained substantial funding for Great Lakes programs.

Commenting on the upcoming release of the President Obama’s budget,  Jeff Skelding, campaign director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, said:

“The nation cannot afford not to protect the Great Lakes—they supply drinking water to more than 30 million people. Great Lakes restoration programs are already producing results, but there is more to do. If we cut funding now, it will only cost more later because projects will become more difficult and expensive the longer we wait.”

Related posts:

• Obama Budget, U.S. House Continuing Resolution: What It Means for Great Lakes
• Coalition to EPA Administrator Jackson: Restore Great Lakes Funding in 2013 Budget
• Historic $475 Million Obama Great Lakes Budget Will Create Jobs and Grow the Economy
• We’d Like To Thank You, President Obama
• Action Alert: Tell your Members of Congress to Match President Obama's Great Lakes Restoration Funding
• Tell the U.S. Senate to fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at $300 million in the 2011 budget
• Victory in 2012 Budget
• Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

That was before the construction of roads, bridges and dams altered the natural flow of rivers, which unleashed a torrent of sediment from eroding stream banks.

Restoring natural stability and fish passage in New York's Clear Creek was undertaken with the goal of improving trout populations. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo).

The excess sediment buried gravel trout spawning beds under a blanket of sand and silt, making large stretches of many streams unsuitable for trout.

A group of government agencies and private organizations are now working to restore natural stability and fish passage with the intent of improving trout populations in Clear Creek, in Freedom, N.Y.

Go here to read more about the project.

Related posts:

• Reducing erosion could benefit a New York trout stream
• Crews hit the road to improve a Michigan trout stream
• Trout stream benefits from changes to road-stream crossings
• Dam removal resurrects a trout stream
• New bridge restores a trout stream’s natural flow
• Removing dams boosts brook trout population
• Cleveland project restores natural features in creek
• Dam removal improves water quality, fish habitat in urban stream near Cleveland, Ohio

In the article, Kristy Meyer of the Ohio Environmental Council recounts how, in the wake of the Cuyahoga River catching fire, the U.S. Congress passed the Clean Water Act. The landmark legislation—and a federal infusion of billions of dollars to modernize sewage plants across the nation—helped clean up the Great Lakes and waters across the country.

Meyer writes that, despite the overwhelming success of clean water programs, there are those in the U.S. Congress who want to roll back Clean Water Act protections and jeopardize our public health, jobs and way of life. She states:

“Clean water yields good jobs and recreation. Yet many lawmakers now want to gut the Clean Water Act.”

Clean water programs need to be upheld. Millions of people in communities across the country benefit from the Clean Water Act, as well as the nation’s recent commitment to restore the Great Lakes. We’re already seeing results in communities in Ohio–from a creek cleanup in Cleveland to the removal of toxic sediments in Toledo. But more needs to be done.

That’s why it’s imperative that federal public officials continue to support a strong Clean Water Act and programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Ohio’s two U.S. Senators, Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, can play a big role in upholding Clean Water Act protections for Ohio’s 11 million citizens.

Related posts:

• Cleveland Plain Dealer Urges Congress to Beat Back Cuts to Restoration Funds
• Stand Up for Clean Water Today!
• U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin, Sherrod Brown, Herb Kohl Help Secure $300 Million for Great Lakes in Draft 2012 Budget
• We’re Back to Clean Water
• Clean Up the Murky Waters with the Clean Water Restoration Act
• Ottawa River Clean-up in Toledo, Ohio, Removes Contaminated Sediments that Pose Risk to People, Wildlife
• Clean Water Restoration Act
• Dam removal improves water quality, fish habitat in urban stream near Cleveland, Ohio

The 2012 event is scheduled for Feb. 28-29 in Washington, D.C. It’s not too late to register for this important event. Register here.

This year’s conference comes at a pivotal moment in Great Lakes history: Federal budget cuts could endanger funding in 2013 for the GLRI; and the Great Lakes Commission will release a report in late January that presents options for separating Lake Michigan from the Chicago Waterway System and the Mississippi River basin.

The Great Lakes Commission’s report could be a game-changer in efforts to keep Asian carp in the Mississippi River basin and the Chicago Waterway System from invading Lake Michigan and spreading to the other Great Lakes.

In terms of Great Lakes restoration, efforts to clean up toxic hot spots, reduce polluted runoff and restore wetlands have made significant progress over the past two years. But the region needs leadership and energy more than ever to ensure that funding for the GLRI remains intact in 2013 and beyond.

The GLRI funding is already reaping huge benefits for the region by cleaning up the lakes, enhancing job creation, and stimulating the economy in Great Lakes communities. Go here to read some of the success stories.

Attendees at Great Lakes Days will be briefed on critical issues facing the lakes, attend training sessions to become a more effective advocate, and urge members of Congress to support the GLRI.

If you can’t attend the conference, you can participate vicariously through others who will be there.

Several members of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition will be blogging and tweeting about Great Lakes Days. Check back here on Feb. 28-29 for comprehensive coverage of this important event.

Related posts:

• Study: Cargo shipments declining on Chicago canals where Asian carp are spreading
• Sen. Debbie Stabenow Offering Asian Carp Amendment in 2012 Budget
• Dates set for 2012 Great Lakes Days
• Great Lakes groups call on U.S. Senate to adopt Sen. Stabenow’s Stop Asian Carp Amendment
• Feds Invest In Stopping Asian Carp
• Great Lakes Days Set for February 28-29, 2012
• Great Lakes Day
• Stop Asian Carp Act of 2011

Decades of urban development in Cleveland had turned Big Creek into a polluted mess that was prone to flooding. A restoration project tackled by a group of government agencies and private engineering firms brought Big Creek back to life, reduced flooding and created new wetlands that will provide habitat for fish and wildlife.

Ultimately, the project will help reduce the volume of sediment and non-point source pollution flowing into Lake Erie.

The transformation of the creek was remarkable. Go here to read more and see photos of the project.

Related posts:

• Nature returns to an urban creek in Cleveland
• New bridge restores a trout stream’s natural flow
• Dam removal improves water quality, fish habitat in urban stream near Cleveland, Ohio
• Trout stream benefits from changes to road-stream crossings
• Project Helping to Restore Habitat, Clean up Detroit River Area of Concern
• Dam Remediation on the River Raisin: A Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Project
• Projects Help Restore Iconic Rouge River
• In New York, natural conditions return to trout stream