The challenges facing the Great Lakes are well known – author Dan Egan articulated the ongoing crisis in his 2017 book, “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes,” pointing to toxic algae and invasive species as persistent threats to clean, easily available water.
Regional advocacy groups are actively addressing these problems, while recognizing that strong government support is indispensable for effective Great Lakes protection. Bipartisan backing of the lake system is giving hope to groups like the Chicago-based Alliance for the Great Lakes.
For instance, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2024 would accelerate federal investment in the ecosystem and tackle existential dangers such as runoff, toxic pollution, and habitat loss.
Introduced in Feb. 2024, the bill received broad approval from delegates including incoming vice president J.D. Vance. U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), David Joyce (R-Ohio), and Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) are among the lawmakers committed to safeguarding a source of drinking water for more than 42 million people.
The Alliance for the Great Lakes, a nonpartisan environmental organization, is prioritizing long-term solutions to challenges like invasive species management. Expansion of Atlantic Ocean shipping has introduced 194 invasive species into the Great Lakes through the discharge of ballast water – critters such as lamprey and invasive carp depopulate native organisms, and are almost impossible to remove once established.
The alliance is collaborating with the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition – a diverse group of environmental and conservation organizations – to urge Congress to enforce existing laws requiring ballast tank cleaning.
Campaigns around agricultural pollution, climate change and the proliferation of clean drinking water similarly center on regional and federal advocacy, noted alliance director of federal relations Don Jodrey.
“We are not a huge organization, so we have to pick and choose the issues, then partner with other groups focused on the Great Lakes,” said Jodrey. “Our strategy is lots of coordination with lots of coalitions.”
Beyond politics
The Great Lakes – Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario and Superior – hold 20% of the world’s supply of surface fresh water. Their protection also transcends political boundaries, work that will not change once Donal Trump is inaugurated, said Jodrey.
Previously, Jodrey’s alliance helped conceptualize the Brandon Road Interbasin Project, a barrier wall designed to prevent invasive carp from getting into the Great Lakes. Jodrey and his team collaborated with Congress on the project’s language while pushing at the state and federal levels to secure funding and complete engineering work.
The barrier, a collaboration among the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the states of Michigan and Illinois, remains a major priority for the alliance and its regional counterparts. It also underscores the need to hold all presidential administrations accountable for environmental protection, Jodrey said.
“We’re taking on a leadership role to move (these projects) through Congress, get the support of states, and just generally get the fire going,” he said. “It’s about constant advocacy and moving things along.”
The alliance’s post-election priorities include restoring the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, or GLRI, through passage of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act. Passage of this bill could authorize up to $500 million annually for continued lake system protection. Meanwhile, Jodrey’s group continues to lobby for a core clean water program designed to support communities throughout the region.
Along with the Healing Our Waters coalition and others, the alliance is campaigning for a host of clean water initiatives in the annual federal budget as well. This list encompasses improved wastewater systems for states, tribes and local governments, said Jodrey.
Despite Trump’s vocal opposition to climate change protections, the Project 2025 roadmap for his presidency emphasizes the importance of a strong and well-funded water infrastructure.
Yet, concerns persist regarding potential funding cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency, environmental justice programs, and initiatives to address PFAS contamination.
“On the federal level, funding is our biggest concern,” said Jodrey. “Less money available will hinder efforts to continue some of these programs beneficial to the Great Lakes.”
A look ahead
Even with passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – a Biden-era bill funding new sewage, sanitation and water treatment facilities – many Great Lakes states have a backlog of projects that could be delayed during the Trump administration.
However, cross-party consensus on programs like GLRI is a hopeful sign for the near term, said Jennifer Read, water center director of the University of Michigan Graham Sustainability Institute.
“These are swing state areas, so it’s like we are owed something,” said Read. “Bipartisan issues can be pushed to the fore in what may be a more austere economic situation at the federal level. We have to get that money out of Washington into states, and down to the city level.”
The Graham Sustainability Institute, while maintaining political neutrality, provides data that the Healing Our Waters coalition utilizes to support its advocacy initiatives. For her part, Read wants more attention on the lake system’s “areas of concern” – defined by the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement as “geographic areas where significant impairment of beneficial uses has occurred as a result of human activities at the local level.”
Delisting AOCs established in the 1980s – addressing concerns ranging from contaminated sediment to fish tumors – should be a major policy objective. Storytelling is crucial to this effort, with everyday citizens playing a vital role in sharing their narratives, Read said.
“What do the Great Lakes mean to you and your community?” she said. “We can talk about jobs associated with this resource. Or even stories that are cultural and spiritual in nature, from people who are fishing, hunting and doing other things that build their relationship with the Great Lakes.”
Ultimately, our foremost lake system can be a great “uniter” for the country at large, said Jodrey of the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
“This is a place connected to the economy and people’s livelihoods,” Jodrey said. “Anytime you have a landscape with beneficial effects, it becomes a uniter.”
