Environmental Quality program

Learn more about the Commission's 2006 Projects (PDF, 667k)

Our goal
To restore and maintain a healthy environment by promoting the cleanup of contaminated sites, protecting high-quality areas and ensuring a strong foundation of scientific research and monitoring.

What we do
The Environmental Quality Program supports efforts to restore beneficial uses in Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs) and other degraded areas; strengthen environmental monitoring programs; improve management of coastal wetlands; and protect high-quality areas. Program staff employ cutting-edge information technologies to advance project goals, and leverage and coordinate the resources and expertise of public agencies and other stakeholders to achieve a healthy and sustainable Great Lakes ecosystem.

• Monitoring
  The Great Lakes Commission engages in a variety of activities to coordinate monitoring efforts and consolidate environmental data collected across the Great Lakes basin. Major activities in 2005 included the Great Lakes Monitoring Inventory and Gap Analysis, a comprehensive report on more than 600 monitoring programs; undertaking management of the Michigan Clean Water Corps, a state program utilizing the efforts of volunteer water quality monitoring groups; and managing the Great Lakes Air Deposition (GLAD) program, which sponsors research on atmospheric sources of toxic substances. The Commission also compiles the Great Lakes Air Toxic Emissions Inventory and provides staff support for the Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands Consortium, which is coordinating the binational development of a long-term monitoring program for Great Lakes coastal wetlands, and the Lake Michigan Monitoring Coordination Council.

• Areas of Concern (AOCs): Assist federal, state and local authorities in coordinating a regional approach to Great Lakes AOC restoration, including convening technical workshops and maintaining web-based information resources.
• Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands Consortium: Coordinate the work of two dozen U.S. and Canadian science and policy experts developing a long-term monitoring program for Great Lakes coastal wetlands.
• Great Lakes Monitoring Inventory: Collect a detailed geographic database of binational monitoring programs and develop a gap analysis report.
• Lake Erie Habitat Map Project: Collaborate with binational partners to classify and map Lake Erie basin habitat boundaries through a pilot initiative.
• Lake Michigan Monitoring Coordination Council (LMMCC): Work with monitoring agencies and organizations in the Lake Michigan basin to develop coordinated monitoring protocols and collaborative efforts.
• Lake Michigan Tributary Monitoring: Coordinate state and federal agencies in monitoring pollutants in Lake Michigan tributaries in order to update loading estimates from the LMMCC’s Lake Michigan Mass Balance Project.
• Marsh Monitoring in Areas of Concern: Coordinate and enhance marsh monitoring in U.S. Areas of Concern and helping establish indicators to measure progress of fish and wildlife restoration efforts.
• Michigan Clean Water Corps (MiCorps): Serve as ongoing coordinator of volunteer stream and lake monitoring programs for the state of Michigan, along with several state, university and nongovernmental partners.
• Michigan Statewide Public Advisory Council (SPAC): Provide technical guidance, communications and staff support to a statewide coalition of community-based advisory councils that advance the restoration of beneficial uses in the AOCs.