OPINION

Editorial: Stay vigilant on Great Lakes restoration

EDITORIAL BOARD
BATTLE CREEK ENQUIRER

Less than seven months before the presidential election we have little idea where the candidates stand on protecting the Great Lakes. Thanks to an uncharacteristically unified House of Representatives, however, we have some assurance that Congress does.

The House last month overwhelmingly authorized five more years of Great Lakes restoration, to the tune of $300 million a year, teeing up an opportunity for the Senate to show its commitment. We encourage those lawmakers to step up quickly.

That support shouldn’t be in doubt among Michigan’s delegation. Sen. Debbie Stabenow has a long record of fighting for the lakes, and her fellow Democrat, Sen. Gary Peters, has wasted no time in signaling his advocacy.

Earlier this month, both senators lauded the release of $1.3 million in restoration funds to combat the spread of invasive species. The allocation includes $160,377 to the Calhoun Conservation District for a Battle Creek River watershed project to reduce sediment and nutrient transport to Lake Michigan, underscoring the reach of the initiative first funded in 2009.

Both called the lakes intrinsically valuable to our lives in Michigan, “part of who we are.”

In more ways than one.

The majesty of lakes Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior may be unrivaled. Their nearly 11,000 miles of coastline, their more than 32,000 islands and their biodiversity are testament to their ecological importance. It’s estimated that the lakes holds a fifth of the world’s fresh surface water supply.

Simply put, we have a natural wonder in our back yard, and our lives are richer for it.

Yet the Great Lakes economic footprint is no less impressive. Industries in the Great Lakes region account for more than third of the combined Canadian and U.S. gross national product. The Great Lakes sport fishery alone contributes billions to the regional economy, and lakes-related commerce generates an estimated 1.5 million jobs.

For all of that, the Great Lakes basin remains vulnerable to human activity, threatening both its natural beauty and its economic bounty. In 2004, the George W. Bush administration issued an executive order to design a strategy to protect and restore the Great Lakes, calling for an investment of $20 billion reduce pollution, restore wetlands, clean up toxic sites and staff off invasive species.

In his 2008 campaign, Barack Obama pledged about $5 million in new investment to the region. The reauthorization, if approved, would push us past the halfway mark.

Although short of what's been promised, it in no way diminishes what’s been accomplished. Since 2010, the initiative has funded the cleanup of 43 "toxic hot spots" around the lakes — places where industry or agriculture pollution imperiled marine life or tainted drinking water — and underwritten more than 2,500 projects.

The investment is paying off, but that investment could be squandered should Congress and the president waiver in their commitment — always a threat in our national politics.

The Senate has the opportunity to signal to the nation and the next president, whomever that may be, that Great Lakes restoration will remain a priority. The sooner the better.