The Latest from the Coalition
On this page you can find the latest news from the Coalition, including stories of restoration successes, profiles of ongoing clean water issues, policy updates, and press releases.
Coalition Supports Task Force Push to Boost Great Lakes Funding
The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is supporting a push by members in the U.S. House of Representatives to boost federal investments to protect and restore the Great Lakes.
Coalition: Sen. Stabenow ‘Has Been a Champion for the Great Lakes’
U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) announced that she will be retiring at the end of her term in January 2025. The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is thanking her for her leadership and dedication to Great Lakes restoration and protection during her tenure in Congress.
Cleaning Up an Important Community Resource—The St. Louis River Area of Concern
The St. Louis River is known as an “Area of Concern” (AOC)–one the most environmentally degraded areas in the Great Lakes region. Cleanup is estimated to be completed by 2030 as a result of a funding influx from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. To learn more about the importance of St. Louis River AOC cleanup work in his area of the river—Munger Landing—we spoke to Mike Casey, a local advocate.
Budget Deal Keeps Great Lakes Efforts on Track
The congressional budget deal announced today to fund the U.S. government through Sept. 30, 2023, will support efforts to restore the Great Lakes, protect community drinking water, and safeguard public health for the millions of people in the eight-state region of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Public Engagement and Great Lakes Restoration
The Great Lakes region has 43 Areas of Concern (AOCs). Each AOC has a group of community members who provide their expertise to discussions of cleanup and their time to related volunteer activities. To learn more about this important form of public engagement, we spoke to activist and organizer with Sierra Club Michigan, Erma Leaphart.
Funding Asks for Final Fiscal Year 2023 Appropriations Package
The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition joined 67 of our member organizations writing to urge Congress quickly come to an agreement on a final fiscal year 2023 appropriations package that enhances the federal government’s support for Great Lakes restoration and clean water priorities.
GLRI Ask to Office of Management and Budget
The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition joined 67 of our member organizations to urge the Administration fully fund the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) at no less than $425 million in the President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget request.
After Year of Legislative Victories, Great Lakes Advocates to Gather in Milwaukee for Conference
Hundreds of advocates for the Great Lakes are preparing to gather in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 18-19, for the 2022 Great Lakes Conference, put on by the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition.