EPA Offers Status Report On Lake Erie Management Plan

Those interested in the health of Lake Erie can keep track of an ongoing management plan for the lake via the Internet. In 1993 Canada and the U.S., as part of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, started the Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP) for Lake Erie with the goal of restoring and protecting beneficial uses of Lake Erie such as safe beaches, clean drinking water, and healthy fish and wildlife populations. Environment Canada and the U.S. EPA are the federal co-leaders of LaMP. The province of Ontario and the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio also are involved. The EPA recently posted the Lake Erie Lakewide Management Plan Status Report, which covers key issues such as:

• General knowledge about the Lake Erie basin.
• How and why the LaMP was started, its current activities, and future goals.
• Which beneficial uses are impaired, which are not, and which ones require further evaluation.