Request for Comment and Notice of Upcoming Zoom Information Session

The Great Lakes Ecoregion Network and the Ontario Headwaters Institute request your comments on draft recommendations to Canada and the United States for the improved implementation of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement with respect to Physical Integrity and Watershed Security.

The need is pressing for two reasons. First, while over the last fifty years the Agreement has focused multiple efforts on the biological and chemical integrity of the Lakes, there has been less of an effort on physical integrity. As a result, efforts to protect and remediate coastal wetlands and shorelines, as well as to address the negative impacts of dredging and in-stream barriers, lag behind other efforts.

Second, population and development are increasing and projected to continue growing across the Basin. Without the improved integration of land use and watershed planning, these increases can seriously degrade watershed security – healthy and resilient watersheds that protect regional ecological integrity, social wellbeing, and economic vitality.

Our organizations addressed these issues with a draft submission in February to the Great Lakes Executive Committee. That submission was also endorsed by Freshwater Future, which recently provided a small grant to us to solicit broader community engagement.

As a result, we seek your input on the draft recommendations, as follows:

See a full version of this email and the draft submission here.

To submit comments, get updates, receive a link to the Zoom Information Session, and be invited to endorse the final submission, please send an email to [email protected].

Sincerely yours,