Wildlife Promise » Michael Murray

Revised Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Offers Renewed Guiding Framework for Restoration

Michael Murray — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 00:29:44 +0000

An updated Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement was signed today in Washington, D.C., offering the hope for increased collaborative actions to protect and restore the Great Lakes. The Agreement has been described as a “North Star” guiding protection and restoration of the Great Lakes since it was first signed by the U.S. and Canadian governments (the “Parties”) in 1972.

Today’s signing is the first revision to the Agreement since it was last amended by protocol in 1987, when a major emphasis was toxic chemicals and water quality. In the meantime, researchers, policymakers, and many others (including the public) have come to recognize a number of other stresses to the lakes that need to be addressed or receive greater emphasis, including aquatic invasive species, habitat degradation, harmful algal blooms, and climate change. These and other issues were raised in multiple reviews and consultations related to the Agreement, including by the International Joint Commission and in the 2006-07 government review process, in which NWF, Great Lakes United, and a number of other groups and individuals were involved.

The purpose of the revised Agreement is consistent with this input, and with language in the previous Agreement: “The purpose of this Agreement is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Waters of the Great Lakes.” While the revised Agreement retains an emphasis on water quality, it also highlights the need to address other threats to the waters through an ecosystem approach, and includes several new annexes, including on nutrients, aquatic invasive species, and climate change impacts.

View from Leelanau State Park, MI. Photo by Michael Murray

A recent NWF report summarizing results of a survey of environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) on chemicals policy in the region similarly found strong support for a multifaceted purpose to the Agreement. Concerning toxic chemicals specifically, the survey also found strong support for virtual elimination and zero discharge goals (identified in the previous Agreement), which have been retained, though in revised form, addressing “chemicals of mutual concern” to be identified by the Parties. The survey also found strong support for other components, including pollution prevention approaches (such as green chemistry); while the revised Agreement does incorporate precaution and prevention as principles or approaches, it does not explicitly reference green chemistry.

The NWF survey also noted the importance of implementing strong programs through the Agreement to achieve its goals and objectives, including through the Binational Toxics Strategy (BTS) or an equivalent strategy. The BTS, signed in 1997, has been a collaborative, stakeholder effort to advance programs toward meeting virtual elimination goals for toxic chemicals under the Agreement. Though it remains to be seen what form the BTS or a new strategy will take under the new Agreement, a number of aspects of a strategy were found in the survey to be important, including the ability for stakeholders to influence the type and scope of activities implemented.

Achieving success under the new Agreement will only come with strong implementation, as noted by National Wildlife Federation’s Andy Buchsbaum and Great Lakes United’s John Jackson, who attended today’s ceremony. Among other things, this will require provision of adequate resources by the governments, strengthened/expanded legislation and regulations (such as current efforts to reform the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act), and adequate opportunities for public and stakeholder engagement.

Resources:

Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/glwqa/

From the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement to the Binational Toxics Strategy: An Assessment of NGO Perspectives on Chemicals Policies in the Great Lakes, National Wildlife Federation.
http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/Media-Center/Reports/Archive/2012/09-07-12-An-Assessment-of-NGO-Perspectives-on-Chemicals-Policies-in-the-Great-Lakes.aspx

Binational.net
http://www.binational.net/home_e.html

Water Samples Positive for Asian Carp Environmental DNA in Lake Erie

Michael Murray — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 23:49:45 +0000

State and federal officials have announced that six water samples from Lake Erie have tested positive for Asian carp environmental DNA (eDNA).

The samples were among over 400 samples taken in August of last year, and are the first positive samples for Asian carp eDNA in Michigan or Ohio waters since eDNA surveillance began in 2010.

Four of the samples from Sandusky Bay (Ohio waters) were positive for bighead carp, and two samples from north Maumee Bay (Michigan waters) were positive for silver carp. In response to the findings, officials began electro-shocking and netting last Friday in Sandusky Bay, and no evidence of Asian carps was found.

Environmental DNA analysis is being increasingly used to monitor for the potential presence of invasive Asian carps in the Great Lakes. The technique (which involves analysis of material in water such as scales or mucous) can indicate whether a species has been present in the area in the recent past, though there can be positive results even if a fish is dead.

Bighead, silver, and grass carp (top to bottom). Photo from U.S. FWS.

In any case, the results are sobering. Just last week, an ecological risk assessment developed by Canadian and U.S. researchers found that each of the Great Lakes could potentially support establishment of the two main Asian carp species of concern in the region – bighead and silver.

The study found that along with Lakes Michigan and Huron, Lake Erie was at greatest risk of introduction, given high potential for bighead and silver carp to arrive, spread, survive, and establish breeding populations.

This risk assessment followed on a recent assessment by USGS researchers which indicated that conditions in tributaries and the open water of Lake Erie would be sufficient to allow Asian carps to spawn and mature in the lake.

According to Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the positive results have led to a plan of action among state and federal agencies and the eDNA research team. MDNR has also created a Web site for reporting on Asian carps sightings.

These results further highlight the urgency of both addressing the ongoing threat of migration of Asian carps from the Mississippi River Basin to Lake Michigan (through acceleration of a determination on viable hydrological separation measures in the Chicago Area Waterways System) as well as enhancing early detection and rapid response efforts in the region, in particular in areas considered to be at highest risk of introduction of Asian carps.

New Study: Asian Carp Are Clear Threat to Lake Erie

Michael Murray — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:22:19 +0000

Asian carps could spawn and mature in Lake Erie and its tributaries.

That is the conclusion of a new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study, which further highlights the need for more aggressive actions to prevent the invasive fishes from entering the Great Lakes basin. The study found that tributary conditions and water temperatures are such that several Asian carp species could spawn and mature in the Lake Erie basin. With their prolific breeding rates and voracious appetites, Asian carps can cause significant ecological damage in waters they invade.

Current concern with entry points for Asian carps into the Great Lakes centers around the Chicago Area Waterways System (CAWS) as the most likely point of entry into Lake Michigan, with additional concern for other pathways, in particular Eagle Marsh near Fort Wayne, IN which can allow for fish passage between the headwaters of the Wabash River (in which Asian carp are already spawning in the lower reaches) and Maumee River watersheds during flooding.

The USGS study, led by Dr. Patrick Kocovsky, utilized data on temperature, flows, and flooding as well as modeling to predict whether Lake Erie tributaries were adequate for spawning (e.g., unobstructed stretches long enough for sufficient egg drift times, and temperatures warm enough for hatching). Their results are sobering:

Nearly all the flood events in the Maumee, Huron and Grand Rivers in 1990-2009 would have been sufficient (i.e. length of passable river, predicted temperature and river velocities) to allow for hatching of Asian carp eggs;
Additional analysis indicated the Maumee, Grand, and Sandusky Rivers would be most likely to support Asian carp spawning;
Furthermore, based on western Lake Erie temperature data for 1990-2008, temperatures were adequate every year for growth and maturation of Asian carps.

Other Troubling Findings

Asian carp/ Photo courtesy United States Fish and Wildlife Service

The researchers also noted other recent troubling findings. For example, incubation times for bighead and silver carp eggs may be shorter than previously reported, which would imply even higher potential to spawn in Lake Erie tributaries. In addition, Asian carps have shown significant adaptability to new conditions, including in their native East Asia (e.g., still spawning in the Yangtze River even after significant habitat changes following construction of the Three Gorges Dam) and in the U.S. (such as spawning in narrower streams than found in their native range).

If Asian carps established reproducing populations in western Lake Erie, they could cause significant harm to native species – bighead and silver carp could outcompete other plankton-consuming fish, and the grass carp (which consumes macrophytes, or larger aquatic plants) could cause harm to walleye and other native species reliant on macrophyte beds.

Establishment of Asian carps in Lake Erie would add another significant challenge to a system already reeling from other stresses, including nutrient loadings and harmful algal blooms, as we noted in the recent report Feast and Famine in the Great Lakes.

This latest study further highlights the need for even more aggressive efforts to prevent Asian carps from entering the Great Lakes, including an acceleration of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study and efforts to re-establish the natural hydrologic separation between the Mississippi River and Great Lakes Basins. You can take action by supporting the Stop Asian Carp Act in Congress.

Further Information

The new USGS study in the Journal of Great Lakes Research

Information on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Great Lakes Mississippi River Interbasin Study

Further information on Asian carps from the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee