Regulatory Frameworks to Protect and Enhance Great Lakes Basin Wetlands

The people, economy, and culture of the Great Lakes are inextricably linked with the health of its wetlands. These aquatic systems improve water quality through nutrient and sediment sequestration, flood retention, and regulation of water temperatures – but they are being lost or impaired.

As of 2017, the Great Lakes comprised an area of more than 200,000 hectares of coastal wetlands and connecting rivers but they remained under threat due to development pressures. Despite the critical role wetlands play, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that there is only half the wetland acreage compared to pre-settlement conditions. As a result, the International Joint Commission (IJC) asked ECT to lead an evaluation of program frameworks and to develop recommendations guiding states and provinces to effectively protect and restore their wetlands.

The final Program Evaluation Report included overviews and summaries of the following:

• An overview of the current status of wetlands across the Great Lakes basin in United States and Canada
• Stressors to Great Lakes wetlands
• Economic benefits of Great Lakes wetlands
• Wetland laws and regulations in Canadian federal/provincial and state specific
• Binational agreements pertinent to wetlands
• Jurisdictions implementing adaptive management principles
• Best practices for stressors and incentives
• Case studies of wetland protection
• A survey of wetland experts
• Native American Tribes, First Nation and Metis world views, interests and perspectives on Great Lakes wetlands
• A pathway to achieve net habitat gains in the Great Lakes