Environmental Quality program
Project Summaries

1. A Regional Approach for Advancing Remedial Action Plan Implementation
   This project is part of the Commission’s ongoing efforts to advance restoration of Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOC). This specific project is funded by U.S. EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office and was initiated in 2003. Working in collaboration with federal, state and local Remedial Action Plan (RAP) participants, the Commission is developing regional workshops, training sessions, technical resources, and related activities with a special focus on developing measurable restoration targets for the AOCs. Initial work is focused on developing a comprehensive database of existing AOC restoration targets and a web-based clearinghouse of related information. The project addresses Article 1, Section 2 of the Great Lakes Basin Compact; and Goal 2, Objectives A and C, of the draft Strategic Plan.

2. Statewide Public Advisory Council for Michigan’s Areas of Concern
   The Council is a coalition of representatives from Michigan’s 14 Areas of Concern (AOC) that provides advice and assistance to federal and state agencies on Michigan’s AOC program. The Council was formed by the State of Michigan in 1991; the Commission has supported the Council since 1993. Current funding is provided by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality; previous years’ funding has also been provided by U.S. EPA. The Commission provides secretariat and technical support to the Council, including business meetings, training workshops, grant administration for local RAP groups, advocacy and communications, and production of the Council newsletter and web site (www.glc.org/spac/). The program addresses Article 1, Section 2 of the Great Lakes Basin Compact; and Goal 2, Objectives A and C, of the draft Strategic Plan.

3. Comprehensive Management Plan for Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River
   This project is authorized in Section 426 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1999, which called on the Army Corps of Engineers to develop a comprehensive management plan for Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River. The plan is to identify the causes and sources of environmental degradation; address continuous monitoring of contamination levels; and provide for timely dissemination of information to public authorities, interested parties and the public. The draft plan was publicly released in July 2003 and the Commission submitted the final draft document to the Corps in September 2003. The Corps' Detroit District recently completed its review of the draft document and forwarded it to the Corps' headquarters, after which it will be submitted to Congress. The project addresses Article 1, Section 2 of the Great Lakes Basin Compact; and Goal 1, Objective D, Goal 2, Objectives A and C, and Goal 5, Objective A of the draft Strategic Plan.

4. Bi-State Coordination in the St. Joseph River Watershed
   The Commission is working with federal, state, and local partners to support management efforts in the St. Joseph River watershed (Michigan and Indiana). The project is supported by U.S. EPA’s Lake Michigan Team. The Commission supported a St. Joseph River watershed conference in 2002 and is administering funding for portions of a watershed management plan. The project addresses Article 1, Sections 1 and 2, and Article VI, Sections A and B, of the Great Lakes Basin Compact; and Goal 1, Objective D, and Goal 2, Objective E of the draft Strategic Plan.

5. Lake Michigan Monitoring Coordination Council
   The Commission continues to provide organizational support to the Lake Michigan Monitoring Coordination Council, formed in 1999 by various federal, state and local agencies to foster cooperation and coordination among groups involved in ecosystem monitoring activities in the Lake Michigan basin. The Council has been funded with grants from U.S. EPA since its inception. The Council hosts workgroups that focus on ten, issue-based monitoring networks in the Lake Michigan basin, including, among others, tributaries, wetlands, wildlife and groundwater. Each group is working to establish strategies to better coordinate data collection, sharing and reporting. The project addresses Article I, (action 2) and Article 6 (power 1) of the Great Lakes Basin Compact; and Goal 2, Objective B, and Goal 4, Objectives A, B and C of the draft Strategic Plan.

6. Coordinated Tributary Monitoring for Lake Michigan
   In 1994-95, a basinwide monitoring project modeled cross-media loadings and processes for four pollutants throughout Lake Michigan. In followup to that project, the Tributary Workgroup of the Lake Michigan Monitoring Coordination Council is designing a coordinated tributary monitoring event to commence in spring 2005. Funded by U.S. EPA, the Commission is coordinating a number of state, federal and other stakeholder agencies to combine monitoring efforts and supplement them with additional monitoring to update pollutant load estimates to Lake Michigan from major tributaries. The project promotes regular events coordinating state and federal monitoring programs to allow for credible and scientifically-sound lake basin decisionmaking. The project addresses Article I (action 2) and Article 6 (power 1) of the Great Lakes Basin Compact; and Goal 2, Objective B, and Goal 4, Objectives A, B and C of the draft Strategic Plan.

7. Great Lakes Monitoring Inventory and Gap Analysis
   This large-scale data collection initiative, funded by the Joyce Foundation, involves the collection of monitoring program information from federal, state/provincial, local and nongovernmental organizations across the Great Lakes region. The result will be the basin’s first comprehensive monitoring inventory. U.S. EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office is also providing support to make this inventory available over the Internet. Using the results of the monitoring inventory, the Commission is also developing a report that addresses monitoring gaps and overlaps and includes monitoring policy recommendations to address these gaps and improve the effectiveness of monitoring efforts. The inventory and report are scheduled for completion by the end of 2004, with dissemination and outreach to follow. The program addresses Article VI, (powers 1 and 2) of the Great Lakes Basin Compact; and Goal 2, Objective B, and Goal 4, Objectives A, B and C of the draft Strategic Plan.

8. Environmental Monitoring Inventory for the Lake St. Clair Basin
   The Commission completed a Lake St. Clair monitoring program inventory and an associated web-based interface in 2004. The inventory provides decisionmakers and the public with access to information about monitoring efforts throughout the Lake St. Clair basin and connects interested individuals to the parties responsible for collecting the information. This project also included the development of a gap analysis and strategic plan for a coordinated monitoring network for the watershed. The program addresses Article VI, (powers 1 and 2) of the Great Lakes Basin Compact; and Goal 2, Objective B, and Goal 4, Objectives A, B and C of the draft Strategic Plan.

9. Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands Consortium
   The Consortium is comprised of wetlands researchers and resource managers and was developed through a cooperative agreement with U.S. EPA-GLNPO. The consortium was initiated in 2000. The Consortium’s ultimate goal is to develop a long-term monitoring strategy and implementation plan for Great Lakes coastal wetlands. The Consortium has developed a set of standard monitoring protocols, developed and tested metrics for coastal wetlands indicators, developed a classified coastal wetlands inventory, and examined methods for collecting coastal data remotely across the basin. The Consortium is currently working on a monitoring implementation plan, which is expected to be applied beginning in the 2006 field season. The Commission coordinates and facilitates the work of the Consortium. This work addresses Section VI (powers 1, 5 and 12) of the Great Lakes Basin Compact; and Goal 2, Objectives A and B, and Goal 4, Objectives A, B, and C of the draft Strategic Plan.

10. Michigan Clean Water Corps Statewide Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Network
    The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) is contracting with the Commission to develop and administer Michigan’s Clean Water Corps Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Network, a new initiative of Governor Granholm. The Commission is partnering with the Huron River Watershed Council (HRWC) to consolidate and coordinate three state volunteer monitoring programs – the Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program, the Volunteer Stream Monitoring Program and Volunteer River, Stream and Creek Clean-up Program. For at least the next three years, the Commission and HRWC will promote the initiative, recruit groups to participate in these programs, administer grant funding, train participants, oversee the quality of results, develop and implement a data management and distribution system, facilitate a statewide conference, develop a newsletter, and report on results. The commission views this initiative as a pilot effort toward the development of a regional volunteer monitoring network coordinated across the Great Lakes basin. This work addresses Section VI (powers 1 and 12) of the Great Lakes Basin Compact; and Goal 2, Objective B, and Goal 4, Objectives A, B, and C of the draft Strategic Plan.