Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are the largest surface freshwater system on the Earth, with 84% of North America’s surface freshwater and 21% of the world’s supply. Only the polar ice caps contain more fresh water. More than 30 million people live in the Great Lakes basin, and the daily activities of these people, from the water consumed to the waste returned, directly affect the Great Lakes environments.

In spite of their large size, the Great Lakes are sensitive to the effects of a wide range of pollutants. Major stresses on the lakes include toxic and nutrient pollution, invasive species and habitat degradation. Sources of pollution include the runoff of soils and farm chemicals from agricultural lands, waste from cities, discharges from industrial areas and leachate from disposal sites.

The large surface area of the lakes also makes them vulnerable to direct atmospheric pollutants that fall as rain, snow, or dust on the lake surface, or exchange as gases with the lake water. Outflows from the Great Lakes are relatively small in comparison with the total volume of water, so pollutants that enter the lakes are retained in the system and become more concentrated with time.

ELPC’s work to improve nutrient and other water quality standards and reduce mercury and other pollution from old coal-fired power plants, as well as other efforts, are contributing to the region’s ability to protect and preserve this important natural resource.

News

E&E News’ ClimateWire Digs into Chicago Stormwater Issues

For an in-depth piece looking at the impact heavy rains have had on Chicago’s sewer system — and the resulting release of polluted wastewater into the Chicago River and Lake Michigan — Daniel Cusick spoke with the Environmental Law & Policy Center’s Jessica Dexter.

“Dexter and other critics say there’s no reason to spend another 17 years digging reservoirs when Chicago’s stormwater management challenges are growing more daunting by the year. If [the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP)] is to be the first line of defense against sewer overflows, the argument goes, it should be deployed much faster.

‘We need to finish what we started in 1972, and do it as quickly as we can,’ Dexter said.”

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