Citizens Campaign for the Environment

Join the Healthy Lakes, Healthy Lives Summer Voyage to Protect the Great Lakes!

The Earth Voyager, the fastest sailing vessel in the Great Lakes, will tour the Great Lakes this summer, making stops in Buffalo and Rochester. The ship will dock in:

Buffalo, June 5-9, Commercial Slip
Rochester, September 5-7, Rochester Port Terminal

Learn more at www.healthylakes.org/tour/

Download the tour flyer for Rochester, NY

The Great Lakes are a natural wonder of the world that holds one-fifth of the world’s fresh water supply. Comprising over 700 miles of New York’s shoreline, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence Seaway hold the key to our economic health, recreation, and irreplaceable family experiences. The Great Lakes supply millions of New Yorkers with their drinking water, provide habitat for wildlife, and support billion dollar industries such as tourism and fishing

With miles of spectacular beaches, wildlife-rich wetlands, amazing fishing opportunities, expansive forests, and clean drinking water, the Great Lakes ecosystem is undoubtedly one of the most magnificent treasure troves of natural resources on Earth.

CCE works at the local, state, and federal level to protect Great Lakes water quality and quantity.

Water Level Management of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River
The International Joint Commission (IJC), the bi-national organization established in the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909, is charged with addressing the interests of the United States in Canada on water issues. In the 1950s the St. Lawrence Water Control Board was established to manage water flowing over the Moses-Saunders Dam, which produces hydroelectric power. Six years ago the IJC requested $20 million to study the effects of water levels in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. Now that the plan is out it is business as usual. The IJC needs to advocate for more sustainable water levels to improve Upstate New York’s economy and ecology.

While the Great Lakes are truly great, they are also quite fragile, and signs of decline are apparent. Eighty-four percent of New York State’s (NYS) Great Lakes waters do not support designated uses, such as fishing and swimming. Raw sewage waste contaminating beaches, invasive species threatening food webs, unsustainable development destroying habitat, and toxic mercury making fish unsafe to eat have reached the point that the Lakes need us to defend them -to keep them healthy. We must take action now, before these problems get worse and the solutions become more expensive.

SAVE THE DATE!

Join the NYS Healing Our Waters Coalition for the

Third Annual Great Lakes Conference

October 4, 2008
Port of Rochester Terminal

Great Lakes Water Quantity: Ensuring Abundant Fresh Water for Future Generations

While seemingly inexhaustible, the Great Lakes are truly a gift of the glaciers, as rainfall and snowmelt only naturally replenish about one percent of the water annually. Once water removal from the Great Lakes for any reason extends beyond one percent annually, lake levels will decrease. The existing strains on this fragile ecosystem, such as pollution, invasive species, and global warming, will only be exacerbated if the sheer quantity of water is jeopardized by Great Lakes water export.

In response to the emerging threat to Great Lakes water quantity, the Council of Great Lakes Governors, composed of the eight Great Lakes Governors and the two Great Lakes Canadian Premieres, developed strong uniform standards to scrutinize all large water withdrawals. The plan, known as the Great Lakes St Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, must now be ratified by all Great Lakes State Legislatures and the US Congress. In New York, CCE successfully secured passage of the Compact in the NYS Legislature, and is working to build support for ratification by Congress.

Invasive species pose an unrelenting threat to the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem and economy. There are 185 known invasive species already in the Great Lakes, and a new one arrives on average every 28 weeks. Once a new species establishes itself, it is almost impossible to remove and incredibly difficult to contain. CCE is working to urge Congress to pass comprehensive legislation to address the invasive species problem.

Of particular concern is the Asian carp, which are an invasive species of fish that wreak havoc on native fish species. Due to their large size, ravenous appetites, and rapid rate of reproduction, these fish could pose a significant risk to the Great Lakes ecosystem. If not stopped, they could become a dominant species in the Great Lakes. CCE successfully advocated that Congress authorize funding for an electronic barrier to stop the invasion of the Asian carp into the Great Lakes, and continues to work to ensure that Asian carp are kept out of the Great Lakes.

Cleaning up toxic pollution in the Great Lakes: Support reauthorization of a strengthened Great Lakes Legacy Act

In 1987, the U.S. and Canada identified and committed to restoring the 43 most toxic hot spots within the Great Lakes basin, known as Areas of Concern or AoCs. The sediments in Great Lakes AoCs contain high concentrations of toxic chemicals and heavy metals, which threaten humans, aquatic organisms, and wildlife health. To remediate persistent contamination in the Great Lakes, Congress passed The Great Lakes Legacy Act in 2002, to provide critical funding to finally clean up these toxic hot spots. Much work remains to clean up the most toxic hot spots in the Great Lakes. The Legacy Act is scheduled to expire on September 30, 2008, and CCE is working to reauthorize and strengthen the Great Lakes Legacy Act.

In 2005 New York passed the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Act. This legislation shifts New York's coastal policy toward a comprehensive, holistic approach, known as ecosystem-based management (EBM). CCE is working to increase public awareness of this effective approach to improve New York’s water quality from Montauk to Buffalo, as well as ensuring that New York adequately funds this important program.

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