Fall 2019 Building A Clean Water Legacy LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO Building A Clean Water Legacy This summer we marked the anniversaries of two grim Great Lakes events. Fifty years ago, the Cuyahoga River was so polluted it caught on fire. Five years ago, a harmful algal bloom turned toxic and shut down access to safe drinking water in Toledo, Ohio. Both anniversaries mark clean water threats that also sparked major movements across the Great Lakes and the nation to clean up our water. While much work remains to rescue Lake Erie, we see huge gains in the fifty years since the Cuyahoga fire that captivated the nation, proving that we can reclaim the water that belongs to us all. Next year, we’ll celebrate 50 years since the founding of Lake Michigan Federation, which would grow to become the Alliance for the Great Lakes. That same year saw the establishment of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. And in the years that followed, Congress passed the Clean Water Act and many of our nation’s bedrock water protections. Next year also marks five years since our leadership in the passage of the Microbead Free Waters Act of 2015, the largest national action preventing plastic pollution to date. As I reflect on the past and present of our movement, I feel grateful and humbled to be in the fight for clean water alongside all of you, our supporters and champions. I’ve seen our movement come together to stop microplastic pollution at the community, state, and eventually the federal level. Your support made the Alliance a leader in that fight. I’ve seen farmers, businesses, and local leaders join together to make long-term commitments to clean water and a healthy Green Bay and Fox River. I’ve seen communities come together to say no to polluters and demand an environmentally just future for their neighborhoods and the waters that connect them to the Great Lakes. It should go without question that every Great Lakes neighborhood and community deserves to enjoy safe and clean water, and it is only because of people like you that we can help make that possible. With your support, the Alliance for the Great Lakes is poised to enter the next 50 years as a powerful leader in the clean water movement. Thank you. Joel Brammeier, President & CEO Rebuilding Trust at the Tap Five Years Later: Lessons From the Toledo Water Crisis ou’re telling people: don’t drink On August 2nd, 2014, residents of Toledo, Ohio awoke to the water. Don’t even touch it,” said urgent warnings not to drink or use their tap water. Half a John C. Jones, community liaison for million people were unable to drink their water, cook with ProMedica health system, as he recalled it, or brush their teeth. The cause? Toxins from a harmful the city of Toledo’s 2014 water crisis. algal bloom in Lake Erie, the source of Toledo’s drinking “Y“Don’t drink it is one thing, but being told you can’t touch the water. To mark the 5th anniversary, we went to Toledo water brings a whole other level to [the situation].” to talk to communities on the front lines about the 2014 crisis and its aftermath. Hear from them directly in video Five years ago, toxins from a massive harmful algal bloom interviews at www.GreatLakes.org/Toledo-5th in Lake Erie, which supplies Toledo’s drinking water, contaminated the city’s drinking water systems. In the very early morning hours of August 2, 2014, more than half a “On the second day of the crisis, they brought in the million Toledo-area residents were ordered not to drink or National Guard to deliver water,” said Alexis Smith, even touch their water. The order lasted for nearly three Restorative Justice Director at Junction Coalition. The group days. A few weeks later residents of Pelee Island, Ontario is a Toledo-based community organization focused on faced a similar crisis lasting nearly two weeks. While Toledo economic, social, and environmental justice. has invested millions to improve drinking water treatment, the city’s story offers an example of the challenges of Today, a lot of the young people and families Smith works rebuilding trust at the tap. with remain skeptical about their water. “I know a lot of people who still don’t drink tap water,” she explained. Jones explained the challenge of messaging to the public in the midst of the water crisis, “So you’re trying to In the wake of the water crisis caused by agricultural manage the panic, but you’re also trying to make people run-off pollution, Junction Coalition takes extra care to be non-apathetic.” design sustainable green spaces. (continued of next page) Slow-going to Reduce Harmful Algal Blooms John C. Jones as Small Businesses While the root cause of algal blooms ultimately lies with large-scale agriculture, Junction Coalition started and Communities community gardens to give neighbors a greater sense of control over their food and water. Continue to “We’re not waiting for anyone to be our superhero.” said Alicia Smith, director of Junction Coalition. “We’ll Take a Hit be our own heroes.” As Smith walked through Junction Coalition’s garden, where young people from the neighborhood help plant and care for vegetables, she pointed out different crops. She stressed that neighbors not only grow and harvest t stinks….The best thing I can think to describe their own food, but the gardens spark conversation it is if you remember Grandma’s attic, that musty about sustainable agriculture and clean water. smell,” said Dave Spangler, president of the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association, describing the Jones acknowledged the current effort by the blanket of algae that covers western Lake Erie community and environmentalists to address the root “Ieach year. “It gets so thick that it slows the boats.” causes of algal blooms. Yet he emphasized that the work won’t be done until people can trust the water coming Every year, agricultural runoff pollution causes massive out of their taps. “I don’t think this movement is moving harmful algal blooms to cover parts of the western Lake Erie as fast as it should to provide assurance that clean water basin. The blooms undermine the region’s economy, including will be provided going forward,” Jones said. small business owners like Spangler, and threaten drinking water for millions of people around the lake. “We are the public in public health,” Smith said, emphasizing that it is the state’s responsibility to “The fish will move somewhere else because there’s less protect clean drinking water. “Where’s the guarantee oxygen in the water,” said Spangler. He later added, “When that this won’t happen again?” people see the big blooms, folks decide, ‘I’m going to take my vacation in some other place.’” Spangler emphasized the ongoing impact of algae on business. The fishing and charter boat industry is hit particularly hard every year, along with tourism and recreation. He estimates charter boat businesses lose about 10 percent of their income due to the algal blooms, a challenge for a seasonal business with precious little time to make up lost revenue each year. One year after the Toledo crisis, Ohio, Michigan, and Alicia and Alexis Smith Ontario’s elected leaders committed to a 40 percent reduction of phosphorus in Lake Erie by 2025. Phosphorous, which flows off agricultural lands, is the key pollutant causing the harmful algal blooms. The agreement included One year after the Toledo crisis, Ohio, Michigan, and Ontario’s elected leaders committed to a 40 percent Lake Erie Charter Boat Association President Dave Spangler shares reduction of his view of Lake Erie's harmful algal bloom crisis. phosphorus in causing algal blooms will be a big help in addressing the Lake Erie by 2025. problem, Spangler said. Some progress has been made. In July, Ohio Governor Lake Erie algae sample Dewine signed into law the H2Ohio Fund, which provides $172 million to address the pollution sources feeding the lake’s annual harmful algal blooms. But money alone cannot an interim goal of a 20 percent reduction by 2020. solve this problem. Funding for pollution reduction programs Although it is not yet 2020, all signs indicate that the must have accountability measures in place to ensure the interim goal will not be met. This is disappointing news funds lead to measurable clean water outcomes. for the millions of people who rely on Lake Erie for their The governments of Ohio, Michigan, and Ontario can still drinking water and economic well-being. meet the broader goal of reducing agricultural pollution Spangler has been to Columbus, Ohio’s state capitol, by 40 percent by 2025. But it’s going to take swift action, many times to emphasize the human, environmental, long-sighted investments, and real accountability for both and economic impacts of this perennial problem and to agriculture and government. The health of Lake Erie and the call for action. Funding to tackle the pollution sources millions who rely on it is at stake. IN MEMORIAM vital champion of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Lee Botts She was instrumental in pursuing numerous As we were completing this issue of Watermarks, laws and regulations we received news that Lee Botts, our founder that protect the and a force in creating and nurturing the Great lakes, including the Lakes environmental movement, passed away on successful 1970s effort to ban phosphates in detergent, a October 5th at age 91 in Oak Park, Illinois. major pollutant of our waterways.