The Great Lakes face new challenges. Here are five key action steps to protect them.
People jump into the choppy waters of Lake Michigan at Montrose Beach during a weekly swim club gathering on Sept. 1, 2023. The Great Lakes are where we live, work and play. Chicagoans from all communities stream to Lake Michigan to go picnicking, swim, play soccer and Frisbee, fish, boat, kayak and play on the beaches. Lake Michigan is our lodestar — ask Chicagoans which way is east, and we point to the lake. We all love Lake Michigan, and all Midwesterners love the Great Lakes.
When then-President Donald Trump’s budgets zeroed out funding for the successful Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the thunderstorm of opposition from both Republican and Democratic public officials thumped his myopic approach. Congress restored funding, and the overwhelming public and political support for the Great Lakes trumped Trump.
The Great Lakes, however, face new challenges. More extreme fluctuations in water levels driven by climate change, combined with more intense storm winds whipping up heavy waves, are battering and eroding beaches, lakeshore buildings and bluffs. Toxic algae outbreaks from cyanobacteria contaminate water supplies, harm fisheries and make swimming yucky in the shallow water bays near Toledo, Ohio; Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Saginaw, Michigan.
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