Resolution: Enhanced Groundwater Monitoring and Research to Inform Management Decisions
Adopted on May 04, 2004

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Whereas, in its 2000 report titled, Protection of the Waters of the Great Lakes, the International Joint Commission recognized that current groundwater research needs to be enhanced to support sound water resources decisionmaking; and

Whereas, in its 2003 report titled, Toward a Water Resources Management Decision Support System, the Great Lakes Commission recognized that the complex dynamics of groundwater recharge, flow and discharge to both water quantity and quality require special attention; and

Whereas, ongoing work examining improvements to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River biohydrological information base indicate that substantial improvements are needed in aquifer mapping, monitoring of groundwater resources, and evaluations of groundwater demand to support regional water resources decisionmaking; and

Whereas, Annex 2001 also calls for improved groundwater mapping, data collection and reporting to support scientifically-based decisionmaking regarding water withdrawal and use proposals; and

Whereas, the existing groundwater monitoring network has diminished below a minimum functional level to support regional decisionmaking due to declining financial resources at the federal, state and provincial levels; and

Whereas, the operation and management of U.S. groundwater data collection, reporting, mapping and monitoring programs are primarily a responsibility of the U.S. Geological Survey, working collaboratively with the Great Lakes states.

Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the Great Lakes Commission calls for increased federal funding for the U.S. Geological Survey to maintain and expand the existing groundwater monitoring network; and

Be it Further Resolved, that the Great Lakes Commission encourages U. S. federal agencies and the Great Lakes states to work with their Canadian federal and provincial counterparts to develop a better understanding of direct and indirect groundwater flow to the Great Lakes and the tributary rivers and streams in support of Annex 2001; and

Be It Finally Resolved, that the Great Lakes Commission urges that groundwater data and information be consolidated for ready access in an integrated basin-wide network to support the management of Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River water resources.

Unanimously adopted by the Great Lakes Commission at its 2004 Semiannual Meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, May 04, 2004.