Michigan

Summer, 2011 Updates:

Mary Lee Orr reported that during the Michigan LWV Convention, the LWV Grand Traverse Area submitted a “Guidance to the Board” that LWVMI endorse their recommendation that the other 7 state leagues bordering on the Great Lakes shoreline adopt by concurrence the 2005 LWVMI position on the Great Lakes Ecosystem at their next state convention.

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Michigan is very close to passing an unprecedented piece of legislation which would prevent the state from passing any rule more stringent than federal standards.  Examples of when Michigan has done this in the past include legislation on issues such as phosphorus and ballast water.  LWVMI will express its concerns and ask for a veto by the Governor, since this bill denies Michigan’s states’ rights, responsibilities, and national leadership role in environmental issues.  Regarding Lake Michigan’s issues in Michigan (drilling in the Lake, wind turbines), federal laws or more geared towards oceans than freshwater lakes.

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Issues to Watch, Spring 2011:

• MEAP:  Michigan Agricultural Environment Assurance Program, which allows farmers to get their farms certified as environmentally secure – problem?  No enforcement.
• The International Joint Commission’s latest report points to non-point sources of runoff from large farm operations as a major source of pollution needed regulation – the above lack of enforcement will be a problem in this regard.
• A resolution (resolution only – no force of law) has been passed at the Michigan State House which asks Congress to stop the EPA from imposing greenhouse gas emission regulations, strip the EPA’s funding for these, and impose a two-year moratorium on new air, water and waste management regulations except for emergencies.
• State gas and oil revenues currently go into a constitutionally protected fund reserved to purchase and protect sensitive land (like Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area); there is a movement to change the constitution to protect no more lands and use the money for roads and other pressing needs.

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Michigan Inland Lakes Monitoring Report Available The Department of Environmental Quality and the United States Geological Survey today announced the release of a summary report of ambient water quality characteristics of Michigan’s inland lakes with public access. The “State and Regional Water-Quality Characteristics and Trophic Conditions of Michigan’s Inland Lakes, 2001-2005” report was prepared by the USGS, Michigan Water Science Center, in cooperation with the DEQ. The report summarizes the results of the first five years of Michigan’s Lake Water Quality Assessment monitoring project conducted by the DEQ and the USGS under a joint funding agreement supported with Clean Michigan Initiative funding. The ten-year LWQA monitoring project, which will be completed in 2011, is a component of the DEQ’s surface water monitoring strategy. During 2001-2005, 433 lake basins from 364 inland lakes with public access were monitored for baseline water quality conditions and trophic status, an indicator of primary biological productivity. Trophic evaluations based on the data collected for these lakes indicate nearly three-quarters are either mesotrophic or oligotrophic, which are typically perceived as very good to high quality lakes, and 22 percent are eutrophic. Only four percent of the lakes were classified as hypereutrophic, which is perceived as lower quality by most lake users. Although the distribution of lakes in Michigan is not uniform, the highest percentage of oligotrophic lakes are in the Northern Lakes and Forests or North Central Hardwoods Omernik Level III Ecoregions located in northern Michigan. The report is available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2008/5188/ or by contacting Lori Fuller at lmfuller@usgs.gov or (517) 887-8911. The DEQ contact for the LWQA monitoring project, Ralph Bednarz, can be reached at bednarzr@michigan.gov or (517) 335-4211. Additional information on Michigan’s inland lakes monitoring programs is available on the DEQ’s Web site at http://www.michigan.gov/deq. Additional information about other USGS, Michigan Water Science Center, reports, water quality data, and Michigan projects is available on the USGS’s Web site at http://mi.water.usgs.gov/.