2023-Jan-27
ECCC and the EPA Release the State of Lake Huron, 2022
Led by the governments of Canada (Environment & Climate Change Canada) and the US (Environmental Protection Agency) in collaboration with various research partners, the State of the Great Lakes assessment gives an annual overview of the water quality and ecosystem health of each Great Lake and identifies current trends and emerging challenges each lake is facing.
Based on the nine indicators looked at in the report, the overall status of the Lake Huron basin ecosystem is Good and the trend is Unchanging despite noting nearshore algal blooms and a reduction in offshore nutrients due to invasive mussels.
Here is the report card:
GOOD
- Be a source of safe, high-quality drinking water
- Allow for unrestricted swimming and other recreational use
- Allow for unrestricted human consumption of the fish and wildlife
- Be free from pollutants that could harm people, wildlife, or organisms
- Be free from the harmful impacts of contaminated groundwater
FAIR
- Support healthy and productive habitats to sustain our native species
- Be free from nutrients that promote unsightly or toxic blooms
- Be free from other substances, materials, or conditions that may negatively affect the Great Lakes
POOR
- Be free from aquatic and terrestrial invasive species
Although progress has been made, concerns remain about algal blooms, nutrient levels, fish and wildlife populations and the impacts that invasive species will continue to have on lake health.
The Great Lakes Ecoregion Network (GLEN), a collaborative of environmental NGOs including GBA, recently made a submission on the binational Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement which also contained the following comment on the State of the Great Lakes, 2022 Report:
The governments’¹ State of the Great Lakes 2022 Report states that for six of the ten categories of Great Lakes indicators for which there is an assessment (P. 4) the status is “fair” or “poor.” The definitions that the report provides say that “fair” means “Some ecosystem components are in acceptable condition.” This means that most components are not in acceptable condition. The report defines “poor” as “Very few or no ecosystem components are in acceptable condition.” Even “acceptable conditions” are likely to be far from what we need to achieve for thriving life throughout the Great Lake basin. This is an alarming situation that must drive the work of the Governments over the next three years and beyond.
¹ The terms “governments” and “Parties” are used interchangeably throughout this submission to refer to the Canadian and U.S Federal Governments.
GBA will continue to work with GLEN and our other partners to advocate for Georgian Bay water quality.
The State of Lake Huron, 2022 Report and reports for the other Great Lakes can be found here.
You can read the submission from GLEN here.