1. Who We Are What I Do Great Lakes Commission

2. Great Lakes Basin

3. Great Lakes Commission  Binational agency representing Great Lakes states and provinces  Formed in mid 1950s via U.S. state and federal law: provincial associate membership in 1999  Promotes the informed use, management and protection of the water and related natural resources of the Great Lakes Basin and St. Lawrence River  Addresses resource management, environmental protection, transportation and sustainable economic development issues  Functions are information sharing, policy research and development, and advocacy  “Information and research broker” that focuses on hydrologic, rather than geo- political boundaries

4. Great Lakes-St. Lawrence System Water Resources: An Overview  Largest system of freshwater on the face of the earth  6.5 quadrillion gallons of water over 95,000 square miles of lake surface  20% of world’s supply of fresh surface water; 90% of United State’s supply  Basis for multi-billion dollar industries in every state and province  Intensive, multiple use under a complex multi-jurisdictional management structure  989 billion gallons withdrawn/ used in-stream daily; 59 billion excluding hydroelectric

5. Public Policy Significance of Great Lakes Water Resources  Regional/Global Prominence  Centerpiece of Basin Ecosystem  Role in Advancing/Sustaining Regional, National and Binational Economic Development  Sensitivity of Great Lakes System to climatic, management and socio- economic changes

6. State of the Lakes  Control of conventional pollutants and point source discharges has been a success story  Emergence of nonpoint source pollution as a priority: urban and agricultural runoff, air deposition  Enhanced understanding of the land use/water quality linkage  Challenge of addressing legacy of the past (e.g., contaminated sediments, brownfields) – “Areas of Concern”  Heightened concern over environmental quality/human health connection  High profile issues include water quantity management and biological pollution

7. Vision Statement “Our vision is a Great Lakes Basin that offers a prosperous economy, a economy, a healthy environment and a high quality of life for its citizens by applying principles of sustainable development in the use, management and protection of water, land and other natural resources” ~ 2000 Strategic Plan

8. Org Structure  Governed by Board of Commissioners from each GL state (MN-west to NY-east), plus associate members from Ontario and Quebec  Exec Director & ~ 25 staff  5 Program Areas Environmental Quality Resource Management Transportation & Sustain Dev Data & Information Management Communications & Internet Tech Great Lakes Information Network

9. What I do  Project Manager – mainly monitoring coordination, of note:  Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands Consortium Implementation Plan to EPA- GLNPO by Sept. 30 Set of indicators/metrics/protocols Macroinverts, Fish, Plants/Veg, Birds & Amphibs, Landscape GL Coastal Wetlands Inventory/Class Who will implement and how – funds needed Just submitted proposal to EPA- REMAP Region 5 for similar project to do similar project for inland depressional wetlands + more CW

10. What I do  Lake Michigan Monitoring Coordination Council

11. LMMCC Background Council was formed in 1999 Formal charter was developed and approved Serves as a regional forum to coordinate and support consistent, credible monitoring methods and strategies Purpose: to define a regionally- coordinated agenda for Lake Michigan basin monitoring, with improved collaboration and data comparability Council meets twice per year around the Lake Michigan basin Great Lakes Commission provides technical/organizational support

12. Membership Broad membership encouraged, including representatives from: Federal agencies State agencies Local governments Basinwide organizations Tribal authorities Nonprofit watershed organizations Industry Academia/Sea Grant

13. Revised Council Framework In 2001, the Council framework was modified to better take advantage of the logical interactions between resource-based monitoring entities:  Air  Aquatic nuisance species  Fisheries  Groundwater  Land use  Open lake  Recreational waters  Tributaries  Wetlands  Wildlife

14. Workgroup Issues Monitoring objectives Gap assessment Network design (spatial, temporal, common parameters/indicators) Methods comparability Quality assurance / Quality control Data management considerations (e.g. metadata) Data analysis approaches Reporting