League of Women Voters Lake Michigan Region
  • Home
    • Contact Us
    • Join or Renew 2022-2023
    • Donate
  • About
  • Issues/Projects
    • Green Waters: Algae Blooms
    • Stormwater Education Project >
      • Useful Resources for All
      • Homeowner Solutions
      • Neighborhood & Regional Solutions
      • Manage Stormwater Protect Lake Michigan
    • Coal Tar Sealants
    • Native Plants
    • Watershed Education
  • Member Resources
    • League Administration
    • 2021 Annual Conference
    • 2020 Annual Conference
    • 2019 Annual Meeting Conference
    • 2022 Climate Forum
    • 2022 Conference
  • Home
    • Contact Us
    • Join or Renew 2022-2023
    • Donate
  • About
  • Issues/Projects
    • Green Waters: Algae Blooms
    • Stormwater Education Project >
      • Useful Resources for All
      • Homeowner Solutions
      • Neighborhood & Regional Solutions
      • Manage Stormwater Protect Lake Michigan
    • Coal Tar Sealants
    • Native Plants
    • Watershed Education
  • Member Resources
    • League Administration
    • 2021 Annual Conference
    • 2020 Annual Conference
    • 2019 Annual Meeting Conference
    • 2022 Climate Forum
    • 2022 Conference

League Members Travel to Washington DC for Great Lakes Days 2016

2/29/2016

 
Picture
LWVLMR Board member Judy Beck listens to remarks by Senator Debbie Stabenow from Michigan. See more photos on our Facebook page, and be sure to like us!
Congratulations to the Healing Our Waters Coalition for organizing a terrific Great Lakes Days event in Washington DC. Leaguers played an important part of this group of over 100 Lake lovers who convened in February to get updates on the successes of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, hear speakers, and participate in in-person meetings with elected representatives and staff on Capitol Hill.  One of our most effective handouts for making our case is a description of restoration successes from around the Great Lakes region, which can be accessed here .

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) is an inter-agency program designed to address the most significant problems in the Great Lakes and works to protect, restore and maintain the Great Lakes Ecosystem. It has traditionally enjoyed bi-partisan support. At our Congressional breakfast both Republicans and Democrats from both Houses addressed the group in support of our work.  Unfortunately, President Obama’s current budget requests only $250 million for FY 2017.  We were lobbying to have that amount restored to $300 million to maintain the current level of funding because, although GLRI is showing real and measurable results, there is still plenty of work to be done.  LWVLMR supports authorization and multi-year funding of $300 million per year for the GLRI and encourages you to contact your federal legislators in support of this position.

The visit was timely as there is heightened concern about drinking water across the states, due to the crisis in Flint, MI.  So in addition to the request for GLRI support, we were also asking for a boost to the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs that help local communities upgrade aging water infrastructure to protect drinking water, reduce sewer overflows, and prevent beach contamination.

Additionally, protection against Asian carp and other invasive species coming through the Chicago Area Waterways was sought, with emphasis on speeding up the Brandon Road Feasibility study by the Army Corps of Engineers. Brandon Road is the site of a Lock and Dam on the Illinois River and was identified as a possible choke point to stop the fish in a previous study which we lobbied for. 

All of our Great Lakes LWV states except Pennsylvania are members of the Healing Our Waters Coalition.  Their annual conference will be September 20-22, 2016 in Sandusky, OH this year and we encourage League members to attend.

Comments are closed.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    December 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    Categories

    All
    Advocacy
    Areas Of Concern
    Clean Water Act
    Drinking Water
    Drug Take Back
    Field Trip
    GLMRIS
    Great Lakes Compact
    Great Lakes Day
    Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
    Green Infrastructure
    Illinois
    Indiana
    Individual Action
    Michigan
    Pipeline
    Restoration
    Separation
    Stormwater
    UMRR
    Wisconsin

League of Women Voters Lake Michigan Region
980 N. Michigan Avenue
Suite 1400 PMB 239
Chicago IL 60611


lwvlakemichigan@gmail.com





© Copyright League of Women Voters Lake Michigan Region.
All rights reserved.





Sign Up for Email Updates
For Email Newsletters you can trust.
DONATE
Photos used under Creative Commons from NCDOTcommunications, mikecogh, sharyrong