Desperate Alewives is an occasional column by Jane Elder.
Commentary
By Jane Elder
If, in casual conversation, I were to turn to you and say, “OK, you have a month to carefully identify, consider, and recommend all the major elements of a framework that two nations will use to protect the water quality of the largest freshwater ecosystem in the known galaxy and by the way, that framework should be designed to last a few decades or more” you would laugh at me out of incredulity, or ask if this was some wacky reality show to boost summer ratings, or you would tell me to come back in two years after I’d secured a grant to help fund you to do this well and ask you then.
But, none of those responses will change the fact that the people of the United States and Canada (and any other gentle observers on the water planet) will have until June 21st to provide their ideas, concerns, strategies, O-M-Gs and whatever else constitutes “input” into the ongoing re-negotiation process between the U.S. and Canada. Then, the negotiating team will begin to re-write the binational framework to protect the waters of the Great Lakes ecosystem.
The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement is the public declaration of the shared goals, objectives and strategies of two great democracies for safeguarding the vital capacity of one of the world’s most important ecosystems. So maybe, just maybe, we don’t need to rush this.
I’m not saying it isn’t urgent that we bring this framework into the realities of 21st Century environmental threats and challenges — that, we desperately need to do, and rapidly. But rapidly doesn’t mean the same thing as hastily, or rushed, or shallow. Yes, there are a lot of pressing matters we need to deal with very soon, but we might do a better job if we don’t race through this process.
So, doing it right instead of fast seems, well, prudent, if not wise. I don’t know about you, but there’s already a lot on my calendar for the month. So, somewhere, between dealing with the end-of-school-year stuff, organizing summer activities to avoid teenage angst, keeping up with the house and garden projects we squeeze into the precious weeks of summer, and the rest of life, I will attempt to provide meaningful input on how the U.S. and Canada should establish a 20-year framework for the Great Lakes on toxic substances, nutrients, science coordination, aquatic invasive species, ship-source pollution, climate change impacts, habitats and species, and “governance” — the mechanisms by which we will attempt to coordinate all the work and information. I will pull the capacity to do so out of thin air. Let me urge you to attempt to do the same.
This may be the best window we get for another few decades. Here are the rules on how to play this game. On that site, you can register for the one Webinar on each topic, or otherwise engage.
If you are looking for in-depth face-to-face dialogue with working groups of experts and stakeholders who are hunkering down to dig into these challenges, well, you’d better organize them yourself. I only wish two great democracies could provide a more democratically inclusive process for an agreement that their people will be expected to uphold for another generation.
Jane Elder is a Great Lakes policy analyst, advocate, writer and die-hard fan of big freshwater ecosystems