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Report: Great Lakes near ecological breakdown

 

Thursday, December 8, 2005 Posted: 2046 GMT (0446 HKT)

 

CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) -- Stresses from polluted rivers to

invasive species threaten to trigger an ecological breakdown in the

Great Lakes, a group of scientists hoping to sway U.S. environmental

policy said Thursday.

 

Seventy-five scientists who study the world's largest collective body

of fresh water released their report on the myriad problems that need

cleanup or restoration ahead of two key policy announcements next week.

 

" This is just a critical period for the Great Lakes, " Andy Buchsbaum,

director of the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes office, said

about next week's announcements.

 

A task force comprising federal agencies, Congress, local government

officials and regional Indian tribes is scheduled to release its

much-anticipated final plan for preserving the Great Lakes requested by

President Bush in 2004.

 

The body's preliminary report in July recommended $20 billion in

federal, state and private funding over 15 years to upgrade antiquated

municipal sewer systems, restore 500,000 acres of wetlands, clean

polluted harbors and bays, and pay for other efforts.

 

But a federal oversight group subsequently suggested to the White House

that the budget was too tight to allow additional funding. Federal

spending on Great Lakes cleanup over the past decade was $800 million,

according to the Government Accountability Office.

 

After the task force releases its plan Monday, governors representing

U.S. states and Canadian provinces that border the Great Lakes will

announce revisions to century-old rules that restrict water withdrawals

and diversions from the lakes.

 

More than 30 million people rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water,

and large-scale diversions to far-off states or countries have been

forbidden.

 

Threats to the Great Lakes are converging, scientists who worked on the

report said.

 

" There's widespread agreement that the Great Lakes are under tremendous

stress, " said Alfred Beeton of the University of Michigan. " Toxic

substances ... overfishing, invasive species, changes in hydrology

affecting rivers -- now we can add the effects of global climate

change.

 

" These have been dealt with individually. What we need to do is look at

the ecosystem -- the combination of stresses, " Beeton said. " Historical

sources of stress have combined with new ones and we have arrived at a

tipping point. What we mean is that ecosystem changes will occur

rapidly and unexpectedly. "

 

The report emphasized the need for large-scale ecosystem restoration

and not piecemeal efforts, coauthor Don Scavia said. Particularly

important was preserving or restoring shoreline " buffer zones, " such as

wetlands and lake tributaries to help the lakes heal themselves.

 

" These are the key areas for filtering the contaminants that enter the

lakes. It's also where most of the wildlife habitat is, " Scavia said.

 

Shoreline pollution that fouls Great Lakes beaches is extending into

the middle of some of the five Great Lakes, sudden drops in oxygen

levels in the water threaten native species, and native fish have been

crowded out by invasive species that have changed the character of the

lakes, the scientists added.

 

 

 

 

Being a pacifist between wars is as easy as being a vegetarian

between meals. " --Ammon Hennacy