The Great Lakes - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

The Great Lakes

It’s History, It’s Future

Ann RzepkaNatural Resources SpecialistGeauga Soil and Water Conservation District

Rachel WebbLow Impact Development CoordinatorChagrin River Watershed Partners, Inc.Slide2

Formed in 1996 by watershed communities. Supported by member dues and grants.

Work directly with 36 cities, villages, counties, townships, and park districts to minimize flooding and erosion as communities grow.

Save $$.

Majority of members required to comply with Ohio EPA’s storm water management rules. Assist with compliance.

Chagrin River Watershed PartnersSlide3

Chagrin River Watershed

Chagrin enters Lake Erie in Eastlake. Majority of jurisdictions shown belong to CRWP

.Slide4

Chagrin River Watershed

265

miles2 drainage

71 miles of State Scenic & ColdwaterUnstable hillsidesPoorly drained soilsSuburbanizing

80% original wetlands filled

Impaired waters – water quality problems are due to land use practicesSlide5

Geauga Soil and Water

Conservation District

Government nonprofit organization – primarily funded by the Geauga County Commissioners and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Soil and Water Conservation

Board of SupervisorsMOU’s and working agreementsServices provided to Geauga County Residents

“To conserve, protect, and enhance the soil and water resources of Geauga County by providing leadership, education, and assistance to all”Slide6

Great Lakes Facts

Largest surface freshwater supply in the world

~95,000 Square miles of water 250 Species of fish

Drinking Water for 40 Million People$4 Billion Sports Fishery(1/3 of U.S. registered boaters)

56

Billion Gallons per day for Municipal,

Agricultural, Industrial

1,000 mile international

border

1% annual renewalSlide7
Slide8

Lake Superior

Largest of the Great Lakes in surface area and volume.

Superior is also the coldest and deepest of the five Great Lakes. Average depths are close to 500 feet; the deepest point in the lake reaches 1,332 feet.Fun Facts

Lake Superior's volume is so large that it could contain all the other Great Lakes plus three additional lakes the size of Lake Erie.Slide9

Lake Michigan

Second

largest of the Great Lakes according to volume. The ONLY Great Lake entirely within the United States. Fun Facts

The world's largest freshwater sand dunes line the shores of Lake Michigan.Hydrologically speaking, lakes Michigan and Huron are actually "one" Great Lake, separated by the Straits of Mackinaw. Slide10

Lake Huron

Third largest of the Great Lakes by volume, holding nearly 850 cubic miles of water.

Home to many ship wrecks, the lake averages a depth of 195 feet. Fun FactsLake Huron has the longest shoreline of the Great Lakes, counting the shorelines of its 30,000 islands.Slide11

Lake Erie

Shallowest of the Great Lakes (averaging only 62 feet) and overall the smallest by volume.

Erie is also exposed to the greatest effects from urbanization and agriculture. Fun FactsLake Erie is the warmest and most biologically productive of the Great Lakes.

Built in 1822, Marblehead Lighthouse on Lake Erie is the oldest active light tower on the Great Lakes. The Lake Erie walleye fishery is widely considered the best in the world. Slide12

Lake Ontario

Similar to Lake Erie in surface area and physical dimensions,

Lake Ontario is a much deeper lake, averaging 283 feet. Comparing their volumes, Lake Ontario holds almost four times more water than Lake Erie. Ontario ranks fourth among the Great Lakes in maximum depth, but its average depth is second only to Lake Superior.

Fun FactsLake Ontario lies 325 ft (99 m) below Lake Erie, at the base of Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls were always an obstacle to navigation into the upper lakes until the Trent-Severn Waterway, along with the Welland and Erie canals were built to allow ships to pass around this bottleneck.

The oldest lighthouse on the U.S. side of the Great Lakes was set up at Fort Niagara in 1818 to aid navigation. Slide13

History of Requests for Diversions of Great Lakes Water

The triple whammy that resulted in the Council of Great Lakes GovernorsSlide14

Power River

Pipeline and the Coal SlurrySlide15

Ogallala AquiferSlide16

Sporhase Case

Water as commerceSlide17

Definitions

Withdrawal

- the taking of water from surface or groundwater, by any means. Withdrawals Resulting in Loss of Water to Great

Lakes BasinDiversion - a transfer of water out of the Great Lakes Basin or a transfer of water from the watershed of one Great Lakes to another

.Consumptive

Loss

- water that is lost or

not returned

to the Great Lakes Basin

through processes

.Slide18

Boundary Waters Treaty

1909

Between US and Canada – designed to resolve border disputesTwo large problems

with Boundary Waters TreatyOnly applied when lake when diversions were large enough to effect lake levelsOnly applies to boundary water (Lake Michigan is entirely within the US)Slide19

Council of Great Lakes Governors

January 1982 – Mackinac Island

Great Lake Governors and premiersDeclared “No Great Lakes Water can be diverted without approval from Great Lakes Governors and premiers and both US and Canadian Federal Governments”1983 - federal legislation for enforcement failed

Problem – no enforcement abilitySlide20

Great Lakes Charter

1984 - created a task force

Declared waters of the great lakes were a precious natural resource “shared and held in trust)Also set diversion and consumptive use thresholds

1985 – Charter signedThree main purposes:To conserve lake levels and flowsProvide a cooperative mechanism to manage water resources sustainably

To protect the ecosystem

Problem – nonbinding agreement ...and Michigan

…But it was a good startSlide21

The threat of the New York City DroughtSlide22

Section 1109 WRDA

Section

1109(d) of WRDA (42 U.S.C.§1962D-20) - No water shall be diverted or exported from any portion

of the Great Lakes within the United States, or from any tributary within the United States of any of the Great Lakes, for use outside the Great Lakes basin unless such diversion

is approved by the Governor of each

of the Great Lakes

States.Slide23

The Nova Group and the 2001 Annex

PURPOSE

In agreeing to this Annex, the Great Lakes Governors and Premiers reaffirm their commitment to the five broad principles set forth in the Great Lakes Charter, and further reaffirm that the provisions of the Charter will continue in full force and effect. The Governors and Premiers commit to further implementing

the principles of the Charter by developing an enhanced water management system that is simple, durable, efficient, retains and respects authority within the Basin, and, most importantly, protects, conserves, restores,and improves the Waters and Water-Dependent Natural Resources of the Great Lakes

Basin. State and Provincial authorities should be permanent, enforceable, and consistent with their respective

applicable state, provincial, federal, and international laws and treaties. Slide24

Some Noteworthy Diversions

Chicago DiversionAkron DiversionSlide25

Chicago DiversionSlide26

Akron

DiversionSlide27

The Current State

of the LakesSlide28
Slide29

Threats to the Great Lakes

Commercial and Recreational Fisheries

Habitat destructionBeach ContaminationInvasive

SpeciesStorms, Ice damage, Erosion, High WavesWater level extremes, Climate change

Safety of Commercial and Recreational Boating

Spills

, Contaminated Food or Drinking Water,

HAB’s

Threats

to water quantity and qualitySlide30

The Great Lakes Compact

What it says and where it stands

2005Governors and premiers signed drafts of the interstate Compact and an

international agreement that prohibit most new diversions and exports of water out of the Great Lakes basin. The Compact allows a community that straddles basinboundaries or lies within a straddling county to request a diversion if:It has no reasonable water supply alternative, including conservation

Diverted

water will be used solely for public supply and returned as

treated wastewater

to the source

watershed (At least 95%)

All Great Lakes governors must approve a diversion to a community in a

straddling county. The

Compact includes goals for water conservation, sustainable use, and

Great Lakes

research.

Must

be ratified by all the states and provinces to be enactedSlide31

Thank you!

Questions?

Rachel Webb

Low Impact Development CoordinatorChagrin River Watershed Partner, Inc.440-975-3870

Annie Rzepka

Natural Resources Specialist

Geauga Soil and Water Conservation District

440-834-1122

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