Echo

Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement: Aquatic invasive species

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To contribute to the discussion about the aquatic invasive species section of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, post your thoughts below. If you want the U.S. and Canadian governments to consider your input, send it to the official website. The continued introduction of invasive species is one of the most significant threats to biodiversity. Currently there is no binational mechanism to deal with this threat comprehensively. The review of the GLWQA indicated that because aquatic invasive species (AIS) can have known impacts on both water quality and beneficial uses, the issue falls within the scope of the Agreement.

Echo

Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement: Habitat and species

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To contribute to the discussion about the habitat and species section of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, post your thoughts below. If you want the U.S. and Canadian governments to consider your input, send it to the official website. Habitats and species are not currently explicitly addressed in the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. During the GLWQA review, the Special Issues Working Group (SIWG) addressed biodiversity threats and responses, with specific reference to habitats and species. The SIWG recommended that a revised Agreement address the need for protection, conservation, and recovery of biodiversity as a factor in maintaining or improving water quality.

Water

Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement: Climate change

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To contribute to the discussion about the climate change section of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, post your thoughts below. If you want the U.S. and Canadian governments to consider your input, send it to the official website. Currently, the GLWQA does not address the impacts of climate change. During the GLWQA Review period, there was general agreement that the GLWQA should be revised to specifically address pressing threats to the Great Lakes, including the impacts of climate change. Recommendations included the need to understand and predict future climate changes in the Great Lakes system, including an assessment of potential impacts and vulnerabilities.

Echo

Discuss the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

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The U.S. and Canadian governments are updating for the first time in 23 years their agreement to protect and restore the Great Lakes, and they’re asking you to speak up. The governments signed in the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1972 after the Cuyahoga River caught fire and Lake Erie was declared “dead.” The agreement was crucial to cutting the flow of phosphorus and toxic substances into the lakes and informed future environmental laws like the Clean Water Act, according to an internal review in 2007. But it’s also outdated. It says nothing about emerging threats like climate change and it underplays invasive species.

Echo

Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement: Governance

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To contribute to the discussion about the governance section of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, post your thoughts below. If you want the U.S. and Canadian governments to consider your input, send it to the official website. Given that the GLWQA was last amended in 1987, both Canada and the United States recognize the importance of examining governance aspects outlined in the GLWQA. 1. Participation in Binational Management Process

Article X of the GLWQA specifies the commitments of the Parties to consultation and Review, including: “The Parties, in cooperation with State and Provincial Governments, shall meet twice a year to coordinate their respective work plans with regard to the implementation of this Agreement and to evaluate progress made”.

Water

Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement: Nutrients

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To contribute to the discussion about the nutrients section of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, post your thoughts below. If you want the U.S. and Canadian governments to consider your input, send it to the official website. In Lake Erie, the re-occurrence of wide spread algae blooms has been observed in recent years. In Lakes Michigan, Huron and Ontario the algae problem is limited to the nearshore zones. Algae are not generally a problem in Lake Superior.

Echo

Greening of Flint: Mama E and the city are in a conflict

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On Wednesdays through July, Great Lakes Echo will run a video segment expected to become a building block of a finished documentary on the greening of Flint, Mich.

You can help by suggesting interviews, questions and angles to pursue.

This week: The city mows down a resident’s gardens.

Land

The Michigan State University crew for The Greening of Flint

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Troy Hale: 11-Time Emmy Award winning television producer and filmmaker. Producer for the Big Ten Network as well as executive producing and host for a TV program for Michigan PBS stations. Geri Alumit Zeldes: Assistant Professor at Michigan State University and producer of the documentary film “Arabs, Jews and the News.” AJN is the winner of a 2010 Award of Excellence from the Broadcast Education Association, 2010 winner of Best Documentary from the Virtual Film Festival, as well as other awards. The work was uplinked March 2010 for national distribution and has already aired in northern California, Montana and other stations in Michigan. Students:

Kirk Green, Journalism

Quincy Hodges, Journalism (master’s)

Matthew Law, Telecommunications Information Studies and Media

Kristina Marks, Telecommunications Information Studies and Media (2010 graduate)

Anthony Siciliano, Telecommunications Information Studies and Media (2010 graduate)

Mike Tetrick, Telecommunications Information Studies and Media

Yang Zhang, Journalism (master’s)

Echo

The Greening of Flint

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Michigan State University faculty and students are producing a documentary on a vision of Flint as a healthier, greener city. It will show the challenges of bringing fresh produce to a food desert, feeding schools, providing educational options and battling bureaucracy. On Wednesdays through July, Great Lakes Echo will run a segment expected to become a building block of the finished story. You can help. After each publication date passes, the images below are linked to the segments that they illustrate.