Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
The Great Lakes are an incredible and precious natural resource. They account for nearly one fifth of all the fresh water found on earth’s surface. The Great Lakes provide drinking water, food, and recreational opportunities to over 35 million Americans. Significant effort over decades has gone into protecting and restoring the Great Lakes by a myriad of agencies and programs. Although much progress has been made, Great Lakes restoration efforts have not always been coordinated. In 2004, President Bush created a cabinet-level interagency task force and the call for a regional collaboration of national significance. The result of this effort was the formation of a group now known as the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration (GLRC). Source: Great Lakes Regional Collaboration http://glrc.us/index.html
Background
Great Lakes Regional Collaboration
The GLRC was officially launched in 2004, creating a unique partnership of key members from federal, state, and local governments, tribes, and other stakeholders for the purpose of developing a strategic plan to restore and protect the Great Lakes ecosystem. In 2005, eight strategy teams began developing action recommendations for different overarching issues affecting the Great Lakes basin. More than 1,500 people from diverse backgrounds participated on these strategy teams. A draft strategy was released in July of 2005 for public comment. The final GLRC’s Strategy to Restore and Protect the Great Lakes was released in Chicago on December 12, 2005.
Further information about the GLRC and a copy of the Strategy to Restore and Protect the Great Lakes can be found at http://glrc.us/index.html.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) builds upon the work completed by the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force and numerous stakeholders guided by the GLRC strategy. To jump start the GLRI, approximately $250 million in grants and project agreements will be made available in five distinct focus areas by the EPA and other federal partners. The focus areas address the most significant environmental problems facing the Great Lakes. These include:
- Toxic Substances and Areas of Concern
- Invasive Species
- Nearshore Health and Nonpoint Source Pollution
- Habitat and Wildlife Protection and Restoration
- Accountability, Monitoring, Evaluation, Communication, and Partnerships
For up-to-date information on the GLRI, including which programs are currently accepting proposals, please visit http://greatlakesrestoration.us/. Make sure to check back often as new information is constantly being added.
Resources
Included in this section are a number of known resources (ex. watershed management plans) and planning tools that may help communities and organizations prepare for potential GLRI projects. When developing GLRI project proposals please make sure that the project aligns with the Great Lakes Multi-Year Restoration Plan Outline.
Watershed Management Plans
“Since the late 1980s, watershed organizations, tribes, and federal and state agencies have moved toward managing water quality through a watershed approach. A watershed approach is a flexible framework for managing water resource quality and quantity within specified drain¬age areas, or watersheds. This approach includes stakeholder involvement and management actions supported by sound science and appropriate technology. The watershed planning process works within this framework by using a series of cooperative, iterative steps to characterize existing conditions, identify and prioritize problems, define management objectives, develop protection or remediation strategies, and implement and adapt selected actions as necessary. The outcomes of this process are documented or referenced in a watershed plan. A watershed plan is a strategy that provides assessment and management information for a geo¬graphically defined watershed, including the analyses, actions, participants, and resources related to developing and implementing the plan.” – Handbook for Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters, EPA
Included below is a list of watershed management plans for subwatersheds in the Little Calumet-Galien Watershed. The plans identify water quality issues, priority areas for restoration, and action items for restoration. This information should be extremely valuable in developing potential GLRI project proposals. Copies of these plans are also available at the Lake Michigan Coastal Program office located in Indiana Dunes State Park in Chesterton, Indiana.
- Salt Creek
http://www.savedunes.org/water_program/water_program/ - Dunes Creek
http://www.savedunes.org/water_program/water_program/ - Trail Creek
http://emichigancity.com/cityhall/departments/sanitary/index.htm - Deep River/Turkey Creek
http://www.city.hobart.in.us/16111065145437387/site/default.asp - West Branch Little Calumet River/Willow Creek
http://www.garysanitary.com/GSWMD_default.asp - Coffee Creek
http://www.coffeecreekwc.org/pages/319grant.htm - Galena River- under development
http://www.laporteswcd.com/galena-watershed.htm - Watershed Diagnostic Study of the Little Calumet-Galien Watershed
http://www.in.gov/dnr/lakemich/publications/index.html
Modeling Tools
- Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment (L-THIA)
http://www.ecn.purdue.edu/runoff/index.html - Low Impact Development (LID) L-THIA
http://cobweb.ecn.purdue.edu/~sprawl/LTHIA7/lthianew/lidIntro.htm - Burns Ditch & Trail Creek Watershed Management System
http://cobweb.ecn.purdue.edu/~eqip/erosion/ - EPA Region 5 Pollutant Load Reduction Model
http://www.in.gov/idem/5238.htm
Guidance/Design/Information
- Indiana Storm Water Quality Manual: Post-Construction Measures
http://www.in.gov/idem/files/chap8.pdf - Low Impact Development
http://www.epa.gov/nps/lid/ - Nonpoint Source Pollution
http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/categories.html - Stream Restoration
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/eng/stream-docs.html - Natural Channel Design- Two Stage Ditches
http://streams.osu.edu/naturalchannel.php - Wetland Restoration
http://www.wli.nrcs.usda.gov/restoration/
LMCP GLRI Coordination
The LMCP will assist local communities and organizations by administering a GLRI grant program similar to its existing grants programs and past Great Lakes Coastal Restoration grant program. The LMCP will submit grant packages to the GLRI funding agencies and programs on behalf of applicants demonstrating a combined regional effort. The LMCP will forward all proposals received leaving the selection process to the GLRI funding agencies and programs. The LMCP will provide technical assistance and contextual information to partners in the development of grant proposals. The LMCP will also serve as a liaison between partners and the GLRI funding agencies and programs. Project management will remain the responsibility of community and organization applicants.
Time Line
- RFP’s released by EPA and other GLRI partner agencies and programs.
- RFP’s open at least 60 days more likely late January.
- LMCP GLRI funding workshop (Nov. 23rd)
- LMCP opens RFP to partners in program area (30 days).
- LMCP provides technical assistance to partners throughout RFP.
- LMCP submits grant package(s) to GLRI funding departments or agencies (late January).
- LMCP grant administration (ongoing).
For further information or questions on LMCP GLRI coordination please contact:
Joe Exl
Coastal Nonpoint Coordinator
Lake Michigan Coastal Program
219-921-0863
jexl@dnr.in.gov
The information posted on this page will be updated as details continue to become available.
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