Ann Arbor, Mich. — Land and water are usually thought of as separate entities, but each has a significant influence on the other. Water shapes the land through its actions, and what happens on the land has a major impact on water quality, habitat and flow, and on the humans and other living creatures that depend on it.

With that in mind, the Great Lakes Commission is awarding $1.9 million in grants to projects that will benefit water quality in the Great Lakes basin through improved land management practices. Forty-seven agencies and organizations, spanning all eight Great Lakes states, have been selected to receive these funds through the Great Lakes Basin Program for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control.

“The Great Lakes Basin Program has been a highly successful federal, state and local environmental partnership,” said Dr. Michael J. Donahue, president/CEO of the Great Lakes Commission. “It’s a great example of how we can work together to achieve environmental goals while improving quality of life and pursuing sustainable economic practices.”

Examples of projects supported by the Great Lakes Basin Program include stabilizing eroding river banks; establishing buffers of native vegetation to filter runoff from adjacent areas; educating builders, developers and realtors on ways to minimize erosion from new construction; analyzing erosion-prone areas and developing mitigation strategies; helping communities develop practices to control erosive flows in urban streams; and more. Projects range in scope from less than $5,000 for an education project, to more than $100,000 for efforts to restore as much as one mile of riverbank.

“Most people are surprised to learn that sediment is a major pollutant of the waters of the Great Lakes basin,” said Jim Bredin, chair of the Great Lakes Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Task Force and assistant director of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes. “It not only clogs streams and rivers, it often carries with it pesticides, fertilizers and other contaminants washed off lawns, parking lots, construction sites and other surface areas.”

Initiated in 1991 and later authorized under the 2002 Farm Bill, the Great Lakes Basin Program has supported 306 projects and invested more than $9.6 million in water quality improvement efforts, while attracting an additional $7.6 million in nonfederal, matching funds. More than 121,000 acres of land have been placed under various forms of erosion and sediment control under the program. In the process, it has involved thousands of community volunteers in watershed improvement projects, improved local ecosystems, and built support for ongoing ecosystem restoration efforts.

Information on the program, including past grants and recent awards, is available at www.glc.org/basin, a website featuring project-specific image galleries, expanded online materials and publications, and advanced search options that enable users to search for completed projects by erosion type, project type, and location. The web site also provides news updates and funding information, and an extensive list of project management tools and models.

The Great Lakes Basin Program is funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service. Projects are selected by the Commission’s Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Task Force, whose membership consists of state and federal resource managers.

The following 47 projects, pending completion of grant agreements, have been selected for funding this year:

For immediate release: June 1, 2004
Contact: Gary Overmier, [email protected], office: 734-971-9135

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The Great Lakes Commission, chaired by Samuel W. Speck (Ohio), is a nonpartisan, binational compact agency created by state and U.S. federal law and dedicated to promoting a strong economy, healthy environment and high quality of life for the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence region and its residents. The Commission consists of state legislators, agency officials, and governors’ appointees from its eight member states. Associate membership for Ontario and Québec was established through the signing of a “Declaration of Partnership.” The Commission maintains a formal Observer program involving U.S. and Canadian federal agencies, tribal authorities, binational agencies and other regional interests. The Commission offices are located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.