The GLU GreenBook for restoring the Great Lakes was an agenda ahead of its time. Citizen’s from across the Great Lakes basin are now calling for federal support to restore the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence watersheds. In the United States, GLU is working closely with Healing our Waters to support implementation of the Great Lakes Regional Collaborative (GLRC). The Collaborative was a multi-stakeholder effort led by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to detail restoration priorities and costs. The workplan detailed in the GLRC final report led to a bill currently before Congress requesting billions of federal aid to restore the Great Lakes. Pieces of the bill are likely to move forward independently based on broad support for several key initiatives.

In Canada, the recent change in government cancels the election promises of the previous government to commit up to $1billion to restore the Great Lakes. Great Lakes United is working with coalition members across Canada to build support for a federal Great Lakes restoration plan. We aim to highlight the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, and are supporting calls for increased funding to the Canada-Ontario Agreement for implementing the Water Quality Agreement, as well as to realize the Saint Lawrence Action Plan.