State of the Great Lakes 2009 - Highlights

8/14/2019 State of the Great Lakes 2009 - Highlights

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S t a t e o f t h e G r e a t L a k es 2 0 0 9


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State o the Great Laes 2009

Tis Highlights report is based onnvironmental indicator reportsnd inormation on the nearshoreat was prepared or the State oe Lakes Ecosystem ConerenceOLEC) in Niagara Falls, Ontario,ctober 22 23, 2008. Many experts

n various components o the Greatakes basin ecosystem contributed toe process. Data sources and contactormation or each indicator arecluded in the technical report,ate o the Great Lakes 2009. Fore nearshore components, similarormation can be ound in theport Nearshore Areas o the Great

akes 2009.

BN 978-1-100-12213 7

t. No. En161 3/2009EA 950 K 09 001

ont Cover Photo Credits:ue Heron: U.S. Environmental Protectionency Great Lakes National Program Oce.eping Bear Dunes: U.S. Environmentalotection Agency Great Lakes Nationalogram Oce. Port Huron Mackinac Race: U.S.vironmental Protection Agency Great Lakestional Program Oce. Niagara Falls: Centre oreat Lakes and Aquatic Sciences.

10% Post Consumer Waste. Acid Free.

ssessing Status and rends o thereat Lakes Ecosystem

dicator Category Assessments andanagement Challenges:

Coastal Zones and AquaticHabitats

Invasive SpeciesContaminationHu

NSI

DE

man Health

Biotic CommunitiesResource UtilizationLand Use Land CoverClimate Change

ake by Lake Overview

earshore Areas o the Great Lakes

ate o the Lakes Ecosystem

onerence

Assessing Status and Trends of the Great LakesEcosystem

Overall Status

In 2008, the overall status o the Great Lakesecosystem was assessed as mixedbecausesome conditions or areas weregoodwhileothers werepoor. Te trends o Great Lakes

ecosystem conditions varied: some conditionswere improvingand some weredeteriorating.

Since 1998, the United States EnvironmentalProtection Agency and Environment Canada have coordinated a biennialassessment o the ecological health o the Great Lakes ecosystem using aconsistent set o environmental and human health indicators. Tis assessment isin accordance with the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Indicator reportsare supported by scientic inormation and, to the extent easible, assessed byGreat Lakes experts rom Canada and the United States, along with a review oscientic papers and use o best proessional judgement.

Indicators are organized into nine categories: Coastal Zones and AquaticHabitats (combined in this report), Invasive Species, Contamination, HumanHealth, Biotic Communities, Resource Utilization, Land Use-Land Cover, andClimate Change. Overall assessments and management challenges were preparedor each category to the extent that indicator inormation was available. TisState o the Great Lakes 2009 Highlights report is derived rom a more detailedState o the Great Lakes 2009 report. Te 2009 Highlights report also includesinormation on Nearshore Areas o the Great Lakes, which was the theme oSOLEC 2008.

Credit: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes National Program Oce.


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Highlights

Authors o the indicator reports assessed the status oecosystem components in relation to desired conditionsor ecosystem objectives, i available. Five status categorieswere used (coded by colour in this Highlights report):

GOOD. Te ecosystem component is presentlymeeting ecosystem objectives or otherwise is in

acceptable condition.

FAIR. Te ecosystem component is currentlyexhibiting minimally acceptable conditions, butit is not meeting established ecosystem objectives,criteria, or other characteristics o ullyacceptable conditions.

POOR. Te ecosystem component is severelynegatively impacted and it does not display evenminimally acceptable conditions.

MIXED. Te ecosystem component displaysboth good and degraded eatures.

UNDETERMINED. Data are not available or areinsucient to assess the status o the ecosystemcomponent.

Four categories were also used to denote current trendso the ecosystem component (coded by shape in thisHighlights report):

IMPROVING. Inormation provided shows theecosystem component to be changing towardmore acceptable conditions.

UNCHANGING. Inormation provided showsthe ecosystem component to be neither gettingbetter nor worse.

DETERIORATING. Inormation providedshows the ecosystem component to be departingrom acceptable conditions.

UNDETERMINED. Data are not available toassess the ecosystem component over time, so notrend can be identifed.

For many indicators, ecosystem objectives, endpoints,or benchmarks have not been established.

For these indicators, complete assessments aredicult to determine.

Indicator Category Assessments andManagement Challenges

COASTAL ZONES AND AqUATIC HAbITATS

Coastal Zones and Auatic Haitats

Great Lakes coastal

zones are unique andrare in the world o

reshwater ecosystems.Special lakeshorecommunities such ascoastal wetlands,islands, alvars, cobblebeaches, sand dunes as

well as aquatic habitats, however, are being adverselyimpacted by the articial alteration o natural water level

fuctuations, shoreline hardening, development, andelevated phosphorus concentrations and loadings. New data

and new management approaches indicate a potential orreversing the deteriorating conditions identied in somelocations.

Te alteration o natural lake level uctuationssignifcantly impacts nearshore and coastal wetlandvegetation. Water levels are regulated in Lake Superior andLake Ontario and are less variable than in the other GreatLakes. In Lake Ontario, the reduced variation in waterlevels has resulted in coastal wetlands that are markedlypoor in plant species diversity.

Lake Ontario Water Levels

76,0

75,5

75,0

74,5

74,0

73,51920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

76.0

75.5

75.0

74.5

74.0

73.51920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

LakeLevel(Meters)

Year

Note: Regulation began in 1960.

Source: State o the Great Lakes 2009 report.

Te St. Clair, Detroit, and Niagara Rivers have 44 to 70percent o their shorelines artifcially hardened. O thelakes, Lake Erie has the highest percentage o its shorelinehardened, and Lake Huron and Lake Superior have thelowest. Whether the amount o shoreline hardening can be


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State of the Great Lakes 2009

reduced is uncertain; perhaps there may come a time whenshorelines can be restored to a more natural state.

70-100% Hardened

40-70% Hardened

15-40% Hardened


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Highlights

Managing the impacto harmul invasivespecies once they areestablished is a majorchallenge. Forexample, the invasivesea lampreyis an

established lethalparasite to large Great

Lakes shes. Decades o control measures have reducedthe sea lamprey population by over 90 percent rom itspeak, but the need or sea lamprey control continues. Tesuccess o control eorts are measured against sea lampreytarget population ranges agreed to by shery managementagencies, which should result in tolerable sh mortalityrates.

Te Great Lakesecosystem has been,

and will continue tobe, extremelyvulnerable tointroductions o newinvasive speciesbecause the region is asignicant receptor o

global trade and travel. Te vulnerability o the ecosystemto invasive species is elevated by actors such as climatechange, development and previous introductions.

?IMPROVING UNCHANGING DETERIORATING UNDETERMINED

Sea Lamprey on Salmon

Credit: Ann Dehass, courtesy o W. Paul Sullivan,Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Sea Lamprey

Management Challenges: Develop integrated invasive species prevention and

control strategies or the entire basin. Establish and enorce regulations to inhibit the

introduction and spread o aquatic invasive species. Gain a better understanding o the links between

vectors and donor regions, the reactivity o the GreatLakes ecosystem, and the biology o potential harmulinvaders.

Aquatic Invasive Species

CONTAMINATION

Contamination

Releases o targetedbioaccumulative toxicchemicals havedeclined signicantly

rom their peak period

in past decades and,or the most part, nolonger limit thereproduction o sh,

birds and mammals. Concentrations o contaminants in theopen waters are low, and many contaminants are urtherdeclining. However, concentrations are higher in some localareas near the shore, such as some bays and Areas oConcern. Te lakes continue to be a receptor ocontaminants rom many diferent sources such asmunicipal and industrial wastewater, air pollution,contaminated sediments, runof, and groundwater.

Contaminants in Waterirds

Colonial waterbirds,such as the herringgull, are sh-eatersand usuallyconsidered top-o-the-ood web predators.Tey are excellentbioaccumulators ocontaminants and are

ofen among the species with the greatest pollutant levels

in an ecosystem. Tey also breed on all the Great Lakes.Overall, most contaminants in herring gull eggs havedeclined 90 percent or more since the monitoring began in1974, but recently, the rate o decline has slowed. Morephysiological abnormalities in herring gulls still occur atGreat Lakes sites than at cleaner reerence sites away romthe Great Lakes basin.

Contaminants in Whole Fish

Since the 1970s,concentrations ohistorically-regulatedcontaminants such as

polychlorinatedbiphenyls (PCbs),dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane(DDT) and mercury

have generally declined in most monitored sh species.Concentrations o other regulated and unregulatedcontaminants such as chlordane and toxaphene vary inselected sh communities, and these concentrations areofen lake-specic. Overall, there has been a signicantdecline in these contaminant concentrations. However, the


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State of the Great Lakes 2009

rate o decline is slowing and, in some cases concentrationsare even increasing in certain sh communities.

5.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

0.5

1.0

0.0

PCBs(ppm)

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

Year

SuperiorMichiganHuronErie*

Ontario

Total PCBs in Whole EPA Lake Trout

* Walleye were used in place of lake trout for Lake Erie

Source: State of the Great Lakes 2009 report.

Phosphorus Concentrations and L oadings

Excessive inputs ophosphorus to thelakes rom detergents,sewage treatmentplants, agriculturalrunof, and industrialdischarges can resultin nuisance algaegrowth. Eforts that

began in the 1970s to reduce phosphorus loadings havebeen largely successul. However, in some locations,

phosphorus loads may be increasing again, and anincreasing proportion o the phosphorus is a dissolvedorm that is biologically available to uel nearshore algalblooms. Te status and trends o phosphorus can be quitediferent in the nearshore waters compared to the ofshorewaters o each lake.

Substances of emerging concern such as ame retardants,plasticizers, pharmaceuticals and personal care products,and pesticides have been at the oreront o many recentstudies because they may pose a risk to sh, wildlie orpeople. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs, ame

retardants incorporated into many products), or example,have recently been added to sh monitoring programsin Canada and the United States. Program resultsdemonstrate that voluntary and regulatory action on themore toxic ormulations o PBDEs through the mid-2000sresulted in a prompt decrease o concentrations o thesecontaminants in Great Lakes sh. Peruoroctanesulonate(PFOS), which is a product used in suractants such aswater-repellent coatings and re-suppressing oams, hasbeen detected in sh throughout the Great Lakes and has

demonstrated the capacity or biomagnication in oodwebs.

1999

e TroutTotal PBDE in Whole EPA Lak

2000

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

TotalPBDE(pp

m)

Superior Michigan Huron Erie* Ontario

Lake

2001

2002200320042005

* Walleye were used in place of lake trout for Lake Erie

Source: State of the Great Lakes 2009 report.

Atmospheric deposition o toxic compounds to the GreatLakes will continue into the uture. Levels o bannedorganochlorine pesticides are generally decreasing. Levelso persistent bioaccumulative toxic substances in air tendto be lower over Lake Superior and Lake Huron, but theymay be much higher in some urban areas around the lakes

Management Challenges: Eliminate nuisance algae growth through vigilant eforts

to control excessive phosphorus loadings to the GreatLakes, guided by a better understanding o the location

and relative importance o various sources as well asthe role that some invasive species play in the cycling ophosphorus.

Research human and ecosystem health implications odetected bioaccumulative toxic substances and newlymonitored contaminants in the Great Lakes.

Reduce atmospheric deposition o contaminants to theGreat Lakes.

Remove existing sources o PCBs in the Great Lakesbasin.

Systematically measure toxic chemicals rom all vectorsto improve source identication and local management

actions.

GOOD FAIR POOR MIXED UNDETERMINED


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Highlights

HUMAN HEALTH

Human Health

Improvements indrinking waterassessment techniquesand beach monitoring,along with continuing

declines inconcentrations o PCBsin sh and air, arebeing made and help

to protect human health. Incompletely known are global orcontinental actors that may be limiting the success o air

pollution reduction eforts. Continued reduction o pollutionsources near beaches and continued study o the impacts onon-native mussels on beach water quality are also needed.

Drinking Water A suite o ten health-related parameters are

used to assess treateddrinking water qualityin the Great Lakesregion. Te parametersinclude chemical andbacterial contaminantsas well as treatmentsuccess. According tothese parameters, theGreat Lakes provideresidents with some o

the nest drinkingwater sources ound anywhere in the world, and watertreatment plants in both Canada and the United States areusing successul treatment technologies. However,drinking water treatment acilities generally do notcompletely eliminate all contaminants.

Credit: Jonathan S. Yoder, Centre or Disease

Control.

Based on 2007 data rom over 1600 beaches along the U.S.and Canadian coastlines o the Great Lakes, an averageo 67 percent were open more than 95 percent o theswimming season. In general, Lake Erie and Lake Ontariohave more beach advisories, postings, and closures than

Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron due to agreater number o both point and non-point sources opollution in the lower Great Lakes.

A decrease in the concentration ocontaminants insport fsh can be attributed to the elimination o theuse o a number o persistent bioaccumulative toxic

chemicals in the environment, mainly organochlorinecontaminants such as toxaphene. Although declines inPCB concentrations have been observed in lake trout,concentrations still exceed consumption limits so it isimportant to continue monitoring. Some new persistentbioaccumulative chemicals o concern have been detectedin sh and are now being monitored.

Guide to Eating Ontario Sportfish

for PCB Concentrations in Lake Trout

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

PCBs(ppm)

Sensitive (

Lake

Ontario

Lake

Erie

Lake

Huron

Lake

Superior

Women of child-bearing age and children under 15 years of age)

population limits used in graph.

2005

2006

2007

Do not eat

4 meals

per month

8 meals

per month


Air qualityseems to be improving on a regional scale,but localized problem areas still exist. In the UnitedStates portion o the Great Lakes basin, concentrations onitrogen oxides and ground-level ozone are decreasing.Tese successes are attributed to improvements in urbanareas. In the Canadian portion o the basin, concentrations

o nitrogen oxides have also decreased as a result oimprovements in urban areas and although ozone levelsremain a concern, there has been an overall decreasingtrend in peak ozone concentrations. Tis decrease ispartly due to weather conditions less conductive or ozoneproduction, and the reductions o nitrogen oxide emissionsin Ontario and in the United States.

Management Challenges: Protect Great Lakes drinking water sources rom

potential threats to human health, including manycontaminants, pathogenic bacteria, salts in stormwater

runof, and chemicals o emerging concern such aspharmaceuticals and personal care products, endocrinedisruptors, antibiotics and antibacterial agents.

Review and standardize U.S. state guidelines orcontaminants in sport sh.

Monitor chemicals o emerging concern such as PBDEsand PFOS.

Identiy human and ecosystem efects rom exposure tomultiple contaminants, including endocrine disruptors.



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Improve quantitative measurements or water qualityimprovements that can be expected as a result oimplementing various best management practices.

bIOTIC COMMUNITIES

biotic Communities

Overall, the status obiotic communitiesvaries rom one lake toanother, with LakeSuperior generallyhaving a more positivestatus than the otherlakes. Indicators thatmeasure lower ood

web components generally show more negative status andtrends, and most o these can be related back to the impactso invasive zebra and quagga mussels. Some indicators that

ocus on higher ood web components are more positive andhighlight the successes that can be achieved as a result olong-term restoration and protection eforts.

Bottom-dwelling, orBenthic Organisms

Credit: G. Carter, National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration.

benthic, aquaticorganisms are importantto, and indicative o,aquatic ecosystemhealth. Te diversity oenthic organisms in

Lake Superior, LakeHuron, and LakeMichigan is typical onutrient-poor, oxygen-rich conditions. In

contrast, the community o benthic organisms in LakeErie is more typical o an aquatic ecosystem with lowoxygen, nutrient-rich conditions.

Diporeia is an aquatic invertebrate that is an importantood source or preysh, and its populations have declineddrastically in all lakes except Lake Superior. Te decline

began afer the arrival o zebra and quagga mussels, buttheir continuing downward trend is ar more complex. Tecontinuing decline will have serious consequences or theood web, and impacts are being observed in populationso preysh such as whitesh, bloater and sculpin.

In the lower Great Lakes, over 99 percent o the nativereshwater mussel population has been wiped out bythe establishment o invasive zebra and quagga mussels.Tere are a ew isolated nearshore communities o nativemussels that are still reproducing, with coastal wetlands

acting as reugia or native mussels. Recent research onnative mussels in the St. Lawrence River shows that afera period o time ollowing an invasion, the numbers onative mussels in open waters may stabilize and naturalreproduction may resume.


Preyfsh, including bloater and sculpin, are a group ospecies that eat aquatic invertebrates and are an importantood source or trout, salmon and other large predatorysh. Maintaining healthy preysh populations is essentialor supporting lake trout restoration as well as sport andcommercial shing interests. Te impacts o the decline opreysh populations and shif in biotic communities willcontinue to be an issue o concern or the near uture.

Lake Trout Lake Superior iscurrently the only

lake where naturalreproduction olaetrout has beenre-established andmaintained. InLake Huron,sel-sustainingpopulations occur ata ew locations inGeorgian Bay inCanada. In the U.S.

waters o Lake Huron there are widespread but low levels

o natural reproduction. Natural reproduction has beenoccurring in Lake Michigan and Lake Ontario at very lowlevels. o improve survival in Lake Erie, a deepwater straino Lake Superior lake trout is being introduced and is alsobeing considered or Lake Ontario. Tese sh may bebetter suited to survive in oshore habitats not colonizedby traditional strains.

Credit: Fisheries and Oceans Canada.


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Highlights

Most salmon populations are successully reproducingand are now considered to be naturalized to the GreatLakes ecosystem.

Many selsustainingpopulations olae

sturgeon still existin the Great Lakesbut at a very smallraction o theirestimated historicalabundance.Successul river

Lake Sturgeon

spawning sites remain on each o the Great Lakes, with atotal o twenty-seven conrmed locations. Larger thanaverage populations still reside in the North Channel andsouthern Main Basin o Lake Huron and in the St. Clair /Detroit River connecting waters, including Lake St. Clair.

Agencies continue to work together to developmanagement strategies to strengthen existing populationsand reintroduce new ones.

Walleye populations in all the Great Lakes connectingchannels have beneted rom very good hatches in 2003.Tis has resulted in good angler catches throughout theregion and a commercial walleye harvest in Lake Erie.In the Saginaw Bay portion o Lake Huron, the walleyepopulation is nearing the recovery criteria set by theMichigan Department o Natural Resources. However,

there is inconsistency in achieving walleye population andharvest targets due to the highly variable quality o walleyehatches in many o the lakes.

Despite signicanthistorical declines, theGreat Lakes ald eaglepopulation is on therebound. In 2007, the baldeagle was removed romprotection under the U.S.Endangered Species Act,

although it is stillprotected by two otherpieces o U.S. ederallegislation. In Ontario, theGreat Lakes bald eagle

Bald Eagles

population is protected by the Endangered Species Act,although the national population does not currently

Credit: U.S. Fish & Wildlie Service.

Credit: Laura Whitehouse, U.S. Fish & WildlieService.

receive ederal protection. Te governments o Canada andthe United States are working together on a binationalinitiative to identiy, prioritize, and improve bald eaglehabitat sites.

Management Challenges:Enhance native preysh populations.Establish appropriate sh stocking levels in relation tothe health o the preysh population base.Improve biomonitoring programs and maintain trend

data, including those or bald eagles.Protect existing high-quality nearshore areas.Plan and implement restoration projects that maximize

benets to all biotic communities, or example byincorporating native mussel reugia into coastal wetlandrestoration plans.

Monitor sh communities to understand therelationship between Diporeia and zebra and quaggamussels.

RESOURCE UTILIZATION

Resource Utilization

Although waterwithdrawals havedecreased, overallenergy consumption isincreasing as

population and urbansprawl increase

throughout the GreatLakes basin. Humanpopulation growth will lead to an increase in the use onatural resources.

Less than 1 percent o the Great Lakes waters are renewedannually through precipitation, run-o and inltration.Te net basin water supplyis estimated to be 500 billionlitres (132 billion gallons) per day, which is equal to thedischarge into the St. Lawrence River.

In 2004, water withdrawn rom the Great Lakes basin

was at a rate o 164 billion litres (43 billion gallons) perday, with 95 percent being returned and 5 percent lost toconsumptive use. O the total withdrawals, 83 percent wasor thermoelectric and industrial users and 14 percent wasor public water supply systems. Due to the shutdown onuclear power acilities and improved water eciency atthermal power plants, water use in Canada and the United


States has decreased since 1980. In the uture, increasedpressures on water resources are expected to come rompopulation growth and rom climate change.

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DomesticPublicSupply13.7%Other1.1%

Withdrawals by Category as Percentage of Total, 2004aterW

1.1%Irrigation1.1%

Livestock0.3%

Industrial10.4%

72.3%Thermoelectric


Te human population o the Great Lakes basin isapproximately 42 million. Parameters such as populationsize, geography, climate, and trends in housing size anddensity all aect the amount oenergyconsumed inthe basin. Electricity generation was the largest energy-

consuming sector in the Great Lakes basin due to the energyrequired to convert ossil uels to electricity.

Total Secondary Energy Consumption

in Megawatt-hours (MWh)

Sector

U.S. Basin

Total Energy

Consumption

(2000)

Canadian Basin

Total Energy

Consumption

(2002)

Residential 478,200,000 127,410,000

Commercial 314,300,000 107,800,000

Industrial 903,900,000 206,410,000

Transportation 714,000,000 184,950,000

Electrical

Generation

953,600,000 303,830,000


Population growth and urban sprawl in the basin haveled to an increase in the number o vehicles on roads, uelconsumption, and kilometres/miles travelled per vehicle.In the Great Lakes states, uel consumption or vehiclesincreased by 15 percent on average rom 1994 to 2006, as

compared to a 28 percent increase nationally in the UnitedStates. In Ontario, sale o motor gasoline increased byapproximately 23 percent between 1994 and 2006, on parwith the Canadian national average. Kilometres/milestravelled within the same areas increased 19 percent orthe United States and 66 percent or Canada.

Management Challenges:Research the ecological impact o water withdrawals.Manage energy production and conservation to meet

current and uture demands.Meet the challenges o population growth and urban

sprawl by improving current and uture transportationsystems and inrastructures.

LAND USELAND COVER

Land Use-Land Cover

Changes on thelandscape, due in partto pressures associatedwith urban population

growth, afect theGreat Lakes, especiallyin the nearshore zonewhere the land meets

the water. Changes inland use and land cover afect how water moves across thelandscape, and they alter tributary and nearshore owregimes. Altered ow regimes afect seasonal timing o waterinputs and may result in increased erosion, sedimenttransport, and reduced water quality in tributaries andnearshore areas o the Great Lakes. Tese changes maymodiy nearshore aquatic habitat structure and alterecological unctions.

For the period 1992 to 2001, approximately 800,000

hectares (2 million acres) or 2.5 percent o the GreatLakes basin experienced a change in land use. Tesechanges were dominated by conversion o orestedand agricultural lands to either high or low intensitydevelopment, transportation (roads), or upland grassesand brush (early successional vegetation). More than halo these changes are considered to be irreversible andpermanent. Conversion rates exceeded predictions basedon population growth alone.


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Highlights


While good water quality is generally associated withheavily orested or undisturbed areas, orested buersnear surace water eatures can also protect soil and waterresources, despite land use classes present in the rest o

the watershed. Higher percentages oorest coverage inthese areas reduce local runo and related problems, whileimproving the ecosystems capacity to store water. In theGreat Lakes basin, orests cover 69 percent o the landin riparian zones within 30 metres (100 eet) o suracewaters.

Physical Alteration of Shorelines

16 - 25%26 - 40%41 - 60%61 - 75%76 - 85%86 - 100%

Miles0 25 50 100 150 200

Kilometers0 50100 200 300 400

Percent Forested Land within Riparian Zones

by Watershed

% Forested Lanwithin

Riparian Zones

d

0 - 15%

Office of Knowledge Management, Durham, NH

Map Produced by:USDA Forest Service

As coastal areas aredeveloped,shorelines arearmoured to protectproperty andinrastructure. Largenavigation

structures, marinas,and launch rampsare constructed topromote commerceand recreationaluses. PhysicalCredit: US Army Corps o Engineers, Bualo District.

alterations to the land/water interace disrupt naturalcoastal processes which, over time, can have signicantregional impacts on nearshore and coastal marginsubstrates, habitat, hydraulic connectivity, and nearshorewater quality. In Ohio, more than 75 percent o thecoastline was armored by 2000, and recent recession-line

mapping showed a signicant increase in the number oshore protection structures installed between 1990 and2004.

Lake Michigan and U.S. Lake Erie watersheds have thehighest proportion oimpervious suraces. Te LakeSuperior watershed contains the lowest proportion oimpervious suraces within the United States portion othe Great Lakes basin.



0Superior

Michigan

Huron

Erie

Ontario

12000

Area(SquareKilometers) 10000

8000600040002000

Percent Impervious Surface

80%- 100%50%- 79%20%- 49%1%- 20%

Uran population growth in the Great Lakes basinshows consistent patterns in both the United States andCanada. From 1996 to 2006, the population o Canadianmetropolitan areas o the Great Lakes basin grew romover 7 million to over 8 million, an increase o 16.3percent. From 1990 to 2000, the population o UnitedStates metropolitan areas o the Great Lakes basin grewrom over 26 million to over 28 million, an increaseo 7.6 percent. Sprawl is increasing in rural and urban


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ringe areas o theGreat Lakes basin,placing a strainon inrastructureand consuminghabitat in areas thatpreviously tended

to have healthierenvironments thanthose in urbanareas. Tis trendis expected tocontinue.

Urban Population Growth

Management Challenges:Develop a uniorm land use/land cover classication

system across the basin.Update land use/land cover datasets to improve current

inormation availability or management decisions.Manage orest lands in ways that protect the continuity

o orest cover to allow or habitat protection andwildlie species mobility, thereore maintaining naturalbiodiversity.

Develop and promote Green Cities concepts whichwill accommodate increasing human population whilereducing impacts on the Great Lakes basin.

Credit: Bob Nichols, U.S. Department o AgricultureNatural Resources Conservation Service.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Credit: NASA image courtesy MODIS Rapid Responseeam, Goddard Space Flight Center.

Climate in the GreatLakes region ischanging. Shorterwinters, warmerannual average

temperatures, andheavy rain and snowand extreme heatevents are occurringmore requently. Airand water

Lake Superior Ice CoverMarch 2009

temperatures are increasing, lake ice cover is decreasing.

Te use o long-term historical Intensity-Duration-Frequency curves to design storm retention ponds andother stormwater acilities is no longer adequate becauseclimate change is dramatically altering precipitation and

temperature patterns. Tese changes are expected toalter lake snow pack density, evaporation rates, and waterquality. As a result, jurisdictions in Canada and the UnitedStates are studying how to adapt to the anticipated impactso climate change.

Management Challenge:Extend global climate change models to Great Lakes

regional and local scales, and where possible link toweather models to assist in planning and designingeective stormwater management acilities.

Projected Changes in Climate for the Great Lakes Basin

Airshed Effects:

Increase in air temperaturesIncrease in precipitable waterin warmer atmosphereChange in frequency andintensity of storms

Watershed Effects:

Warmer air temperaturesMore precipitation (decreases inkey seasons)Less winter precipitation assnowfall and more rain

Less snowpackMore intense precipitationeventsIncrease in evapotranspiration

Nearshore Effects:

Increase in watertemperature Increase in evaporation

Inlake Effects:

Increase in water temperatureHigher evaporative losses from lakesLess ice cover (shorter duration)

Checkmarks indicate observed effects.

Credit: Linda Mortsch, Environment Canada.

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Highlights

Lake-by-Lake Overview

LAkE SUPERIORTe ecosystem is in generally good condition. Baldeagle, gray wol and peregrine alcon populations arerecovering, sheries are in good to excellent condition,and the lower ood web is robust and stable. Forest cover is

increasing, contaminant levels are declining or remainingconstant, and there have been important habitat and landacquisitions such as the Lake Superior National MarineConservation Area in Canada. Stresses include non-nativespecies, toxic chemicals and sh consumption advisories,shoreline development and hardening, habitat loss, land usechange, mining and climate change eects.

LAkE MICHIGANTe lake continues to be a source o good drinkingwater or 12 million residents with a decrease in beachadvisory days while monitoring eorts are up; the

ecosystem exhibits a notable return o bird, mammaland aquatic species due to habitat restoration and damremoval and a continued decline o contaminants in shthough advisories are still necessary. Te ecosystem iscurrently exhibiting dramatic symptoms o major oodweb disruption as Diporeia disappear, viral hemorrhagicsepticemia is ound in sh, and the invasive quagga musselis dominant. Te interaction o invasives with nutrientsleads to detrimental algae growth. Water levels remainbelow average.

LAkE HURONAlthough degradation is not as severe as in the lower GreatLakes, major changes to the Lake Huron ood web, newdiseases, and nearshore algal ouling are o serious concern.Beaches are a prominent eature in the southern portion

o the watershed. Ongoing stewardship eorts are workingtoward restoring recreational water quality. Te northernwatershed contains diverse habitat and many ecologicallyrich areas. New partnerships are being ormed to protectand expand these examples o Great Lakes biodiversitythrough the development and implementation o abinational biodiversity strategy.

LAkE ERIENutrient management remains the top priority orimproving the lake. Yellow perch stocks are recovering;however, the top predator species populations o walleye,lake trout, and lake whitesh are struggling. Contaminantlevels, specically PCBs and mercury continue to aectsh consumption. Aquatic invasive species, such as zebramussels, quagga mussels, round gobies and predatoryzooplankton, are changing the ood web, potentiallyaecting nearshore algae and the requency o botulismoutbreaks.

LAkE ONTARIOTe reduction in contaminants continues to improve.Concentrations o many organic compounds in openwaters are present in only trace amounts, with some belowwater quality objectives. Bird populations are plentiul, baldeagles went rom having no active nesting territories in the1970s to 23 established nesting territories in the basin withthree along the shoreline. Aquatic invasive species such aszebra mussels, quagga mussels and predatory zooplanktonhave become established and may be impacting ood

web dynamics. Complicating the ood web urther isthe reoccurrence o nearshore algal blooms, resulting inproblems such as beach closures, drinking water qualityconcerns, and added costs to industry. Tis was the ocus oan intensive binational monitoring eort in 2008.

Credit: From lef to right: Lake Superior credit Nancy Stadler-Salt, Environment Canada; Lake Michigan credit U.S. National Park Service; Lake Huron credit Parks Canada; Lake EriePoint Pelee Parks Canada/C. Lamiruy; Lake Ontario courtesy Hans Biberhoer, Environment Canada.

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Nearshore Areas of the Great Lakes

Source: Adapted rom Nearshore Areas o the Great Lakes, 1997.

In 1996, the State o the Lakes Ecosystem Conerence(SOLEC) ocused on the nearshore lands and waters o

the Great Lakes where biological productivity is greatestand where humans have maximum impact. In 2008, theconerence concentrated on what had changed withrespect to the nearshore environments since 1996.Additional conditions and issues not evaluated in 1996were also addressed. For the purposes o SOLEC 2008,the aquatic component o the nearshore was dened asbeginning at the shoreline or the lakeward edge andextending oshore to the deepest lakebed depth contourwhere the thermocline typically intersects with the lakebed in late summer or early all. Nearshore areas o the

Great Lakes are important because this is where land-based activities can impact water quality and wherehumans generally interact with the Great Lakes.

Changes rom 19962008SOLEC 1996 identied the introduction oinvasivespecies as among the most destructive human activityaecting nearshore waters. In 1996, there wereapproximately 166 documented invasions o non-indigenous aquatic species in the Great Lakes sincethe early 1800s. Between 1996 and 2008, 19 additionalinvasions were reported. Agencies and organizations

across the Great Lakes are exploring techniques andpolicies to protect aquatic habitats rom the impacts oinvasive species.

In 1996, SOLEC concluded that the most pressingneed or the nearshore terrestrial ecosystem was aconservation strategy that would protect ecologicallysignicant nearshore ecosystems within 19 geographiciodiversity investment areas. Eorts such as TeNature Conservancy and Nature Conservancy o

Canadas Binational Conservation Blueprint or the GreatLakes, and the Biodiversity Conservation Strategiesor Lake Ontario and Lake Huron supported by theLakewide Management Plans and binational lake actionplans process, have urthered the biodiversity investmentarea idea.

Land use changein the orm odevelopment oarm and naturallands in bothurban and ruralareas presentedthe single largestthreat to the GreatLakes basinecosystem in 1996.

In 2008, thecontinued rapid

Land Use Change

expansion and growth o uran and suuran areasand associated inrastructure was the single mostsignicant land use/land cover change (about 60 percent)within the U.S. portion o the Great Lakes basin over thelast decade. Much o the newly developed land wasconverted rom agricultural or early successionalvegetation lands.

In 1996, Great

Lakes coastalwetlands totalledmore than 216,000hectares (534,000acres) and it wasacknowledged thatthey are aconsiderableecological,biological,economic and

Coastal Wetlands

aesthetic resource. Tere currently is not enough detailed

or comprehensive data about coastal wetlands across theentire Great Lakes basin to report condently onconditions and trends in viability, health, or success oprotection and restoration eorts. A long-term coastalwetland monitoring plan has since been developed and isin the initial stages o implementation.

Although nutrient loadings to the Great Lakes have beenreduced in the past 30 years, many physical, chemicaland biological changes to the nearshore environment

Credit: Bob Nichols, U.S. Department o AgricultureNatural Resources Conservation Service.

Credit: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency GreatLakes National Program Oce.

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Highlights

remain. Emerging issues such as otulism, harmulalgae looms,viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS),and shoreline development, among other stressors willrequire additional research and management strategies toalleviate.

Cladophora is anative,lamentous, greenalga that is oundattached to solidsubstrate in all othe Great Lakes.Where phosphorusresources and lightpenetration aresucient, the algacan grow to

nuisanceproportions,

Cladophora

ouling beaches and clogging water intakes. It is thenuisance growths oCladophora observed in nearshoreregions o Lake Erie, Lake Michigan and Lake Ontariothat have drawn the attention o those involved in publicrecreation, operation o utilities and water qualitymanagement.

Te requency andseverity otype E

otulismoutbreaks havecycled over the lastseveral decades,with recentincreases andexpansion oaected areas andspecies. Over the

Type E Botulism

past ew years, botulism outbreaks have been particularlysevere in Lake Michigan. In 2007, botulism outbreakscaused an estimated 17,000 avian mortalities or the

entire Great Lakes region. Te prolic growth oCladophora algae, believed to occur because o increasedwater clarity and subsequent increase in sunlightpenetration resulting rom the invasive mussels waterltration capabilities, may be linked with botulismoutbreaks.

Credit: Brenda Moraska Larancois, U.S. National ParkService.

Credit: Mark Breederland, Michigan Sea Grant.

Recently there hasbeen an apparentresurgence inharmul algallooms (HAbs) inthe lakes and

concern abouttheir potentialproduction otoxins or harmulmetabolites.

Harmful Algal Blooms

HABs in the Great Lakes involve a variety o species andare particularly problematic in coastal areas. Lake Eriehas the most extensive nearshore region due to theshallow nature o the lake, so toxic HABs are a particularconcern there and the ocus o several recent studies.

Viral

hemorrhagicsepticemia (VHS)can be a deadlysh virus and aninvasive speciesthat is a causativeactor orsignicant shkills in the GreatLakes. VHS is anew introduction

into the Great

Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia

Lakes, probably introduced in 2001 or 2002. It has beenconrmed to be present in all o the Great Lakes exceptLake Superior, and in inland lakes and streams inMichigan, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin. It isunknown how VHS was introduced into the Great Lakes;suspected vectors or the introduction and spread includeballast water, movement o live sh (including baitsh),and the natural migration o sh.

Credit: Joe Barber, Ohio Department o Natural Resources Division o Wildlie.

Credit: National Park Service, Photo courtesy oMohamed Faisal, Michigan State University.

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State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference

Te State o the Lakes Ecosystem Conerences (SOLEC) are hostedregularly by the United States Environmental Protection Agency andEnvironment Canada in response to the reporting requirements o theGreat Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

Te conerences and reports provide independent, science-based

reporting on the state o the health o the Great Lakes basin ecosystem.Four objectives or the SOLEC process include:

o assess the state o the Great Lakes ecosystem based on acceptedindicators

o strengthen decision-making and environmental managementconcerning the Great Lakes

o inorm local decision makers o Great Lakes environmental issueso provide a orum or communication and networking amongst all

the Great Lakes stakeholders

Te role o SOLEC is to provide clear, compiled inormation to the Great

Lakes community to enable environmental managers to make betterdecisions. Although SOLEC is primarily a reporting venue rather thana management program, many SOLEC participants are involved indecision-making processes throughout the Great Lakes basin.

For more inormation about Great Lakes indicators and the State o theLakes Ecosystem Conerence, visit:

www.inational.netwww.epa.gov/glnpo/solec

www.on.ec.gc.ca/greatlaes

State o the

Great Laes

2009Highlights

by the Governments o

Canada

and

The United States of America

Prepared by

Environment Canada

and the

United States Environmental

Protection Agency

Documents

State of the Great Lakes 2009 - Highlights