Detroit Free Press OpEd on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
An opinion piece by Rich Bowman, Michigan Director of Government Relations for The Nature Conservancy, calls for Great Lakes restoration.
September 10, 2009
By Detroit Free Press
Investment in Great Lakes Good for Economy and Environment
by Rich Bowman, Michigan Director of Government Relations
 Rich Bowman ©TNC |
When President Obama recommended $475million for Great Lakes restoration in his proposed 2010federal budget, elected officials and community leaders scrambled to determine how the money would be spent. While those details have yet to be unveiled, it's clear this action is intended to make the future health of the Great Lakes a national priority similar to the Everglades and ChesapeakeBay.
If Congress agrees with the president, it will represent a down payment on what is needed to restore and protect the world's largest freshwater system, a resource used by more than 40million people in the U.S.and Canada for drinking water. While strong agreement exists to clean-up toxic hot spots or upgrade urban sewers, those activities alone leave us far short of a healthy, functional freshwatersystem.
Our leaders can learn from some examples outside the Great Lakes basin, including New York's Catskill Mountains, the source of drinking water for New York City. When the Big Apple needed to upgrade its water filtration plants in1997, they found that aging agricultural infrastructure, development pressure and land-use practices in the Catskills were the primary source of watercontaminants. Continue reading on TNC site
