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Focus Area 5: Foundations for Future Restoration Actions - Objective 5.2

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Objective, Commitments & Measures

Objective:

5.2. Conduct targeted science to inform and assess Great Lakes restoration.

Commitments:

5.2.a. Assess Great Lakes ecosystem health and implement interdisciplinary science projects that will guide Great Lakes restoration and help protect the lakes from current and future threats.

Measures:

5.2.1. Annual Great Lakes monitoring conducted; interdisciplinary science projects and assessments implemented to support the GLRI and Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative, lake-specific priorities identified in LAMPs and other GLWQA activities.

Background

Science is a key foundation to any successful ecosystem restoration and protection program. Assessing the overall health of the Great Lakes and identifying and investigating the most significant problems affecting their heath is essential for resource managers to be able to take actions to address chemical, biological and physical stressors.

Monitoring Ecosystem Health of the Great Lakes

Federal agencies and partners conduct comprehensive monitoring to assess the status and trends of the Great Lakes ecosystem. Monitoring of Great Lakes coastal wetlands and other nearshore areas; contaminants in air, fish and sediment; water quality and nutrients; zooplankton; phytoplankton; harmful algal blooms; benthic communities including invasive mussels; and fish populations is conducted throughout the basin. The data and information from these monitoring programs are used to track restoration progress and monitor for changes in lake condition and emergence of new stressors.

Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative (CSMI)

CSMI is a joint United States and Canadian effort to provide natural resource managers with the science and monitoring information necessary to make management decisions on each Great Lake. The coordinated intensive CSMI sampling in each lake basin focuses on filling data and information needs of the GLWQA Lake Partnerships to help advance the management of stressors including eutrophication, contaminants, invasive species, habitat loss and climate change.

Interdisciplinary Science by Federal, State and Tribal Partners

Federal, state and Tribal partners work collaboratively to implement interdisciplinary science projects targeting priority topics such as HABs, hypoxia and coastal resiliency. Results produced through these efforts are specifically designed to assist resource managers in making better management decisions regarding restoring and protecting the Great Lakes.

Under Action Plan III, GLRI federal agencies and their partners implemented projects to enhance understanding of the drivers of harmful algal bloom toxicity and the impacts of current and future changes in lake levels, ice coverage, waves and surge, and sediment transport on coastal resources. Enhanced Great Lakes monitoring and research activities were implemented through the Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative to generate data and information that filled critical data gaps in each Great Lake and advanced the management of Great Lakes resources while confronting the challenges of eutrophication, contaminants, invasive species, habitat loss and climate change.

Under Action Plan IV, GLRI federal agencies and their partners will continue to support targeted science projects and implement programs that will help track progress toward GLRI long-term goals and inform future restoration actions. There will be continued focus on priority issues such as HABs and coastal resilience, but also new efforts such as ecosystem monitoring in winter. There will also be continued support for assessing the health of the Great Lakes through long-term monitoring programs and CSMI.

Developing the Next Generation of Great Lakes Resource Managers Through Wetland Monitoring

The EPA Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program (CWMP) is a GLRI-supported, basin-wide monitoring program implemented to regularly assess the health of over 1,000 Great Lakes coastal wetlands. The university field crews that conduct this monitoring are staffed by a combination of undergraduate student technicians, interns (recent graduates) and graduate students from CWMP university partner institutions. The hands-on training and experience gained by these students and recent graduates is crucial for career building in the field of resource management. Since CWMP fieldwork began in 2011, 28 undergraduate and graduate students and recent graduates who were funded by the CWMP have moved on to Great Lakes resource management career positions at federal, Tribal, state, provincial and local government agencies. Many other former CWMP students and field staff have since pursued additional graduate research or attained university scientist positions, as well as positions with nongovernmental agencies.