Anticipating 'Impaired' Lake Erie

Just trying to get my head around some generalities about an EPA ‘impaired’ designation for Lake Erie.

Ambassador Bridge between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario

The entire lake is surrounded by Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and the Province of Ontario; thus, U.S.- Canadian treaties come into play, and the International Joint Commission (IJC) has a role. (By contrast, EPA’s plan to clean up Chesapeake Bay involves six states, but there is no international connection.)

If the ‘impaired’ label is applied only to the western basin of Lake Erie, then the states directly involved are Michigan and Ohio, plus Ontario, so treaties and the IJC remain pertinent.

Because a critical feature of an impaired western basin is the Maumee River watershed, Michigan, INDIANA and Ohio have to be taken into consideration for certain aspects of an EPA determination, but perhaps not Ontario (unless an indirect association is compelled by the Pakootas and Detroit Edison cases, U.S. and Canadian, respectively), nor treaties, nor IJC.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if somebody has sorted all of this out already?

Lake Erie: Making Political Hay While the Sun Shines

The 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Protocol and Lake Erie Ecosystem Priority (LEEP) require Canada, the U.S. and the International Joint Commission (IJC) to examine the decline of water quality in Lake Erie and arrange fixes.

One result of that effort has been a tenfold increase in political happytalk among the state and provincial authorities assigned to grapple with the problem. Is their optimism warranted? How many of them will still be in office when the results are in?


The pending Lake Erie Protection and Restoration Plan agreed to by leaders in Ontario, Ohio and Michigan is an ambitious, 10 year venture to eliminate 40% of the phosphorus overload by which Lake Erie is impaired. We haven’t been told yet precisely how this vision will be implemented.


A lot of residents, business people and farmers invested in the western Lake Erie watershed are heartened by such talk.


Nothing wrong with setting a very high bar as long as everybody understands the odds are long. It’s irresponsible to build great public expectations based on politically inspired pipe dreams that nobody in authority really believes will be met.

False hope is destructive.