**WRITTEN TESTIMONY OF**

**DR. CRAIG STOW**

**PHYSICAL RESEARCH SCIENTIST**

**GREAT LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY**

**NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION**

**U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE**

**FIELD HEARING ON\
NUTRITENT POLLUTION IN THE GREAT LAKES**

**BEFORE THE**

**SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT**

**COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE**

**U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES**

**May 12, 2008**

Madame Chair, and Members of the Subcommittee, good morning, and thank
you for inviting me to discuss contributions made by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to water quality
improvement in the Great Lakes. I am Dr. Craig Stow, a physical research
scientist at NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
(GLERL), headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The Laurentian Great Lakes are a major resource to North America,
containing 18 percent of the world\'s surface freshwater and 90 percent
of the surface freshwater of the U.S. They serve as the focus for a
multi-billion dollar tourism and recreation industry, supply 40 million
people with drinking water, provide habitat for wildlife and fish, and
support transportation and diverse agricultural production. The basin is
home to about 15 percent of the U.S. population and 60 percent of the
Canadian population.

The Great Lakes are one of the Earth's greatest treasures and one of the
Nation's most important aquatic resources from an economic, geographic,
international, ecological, and societal perspective. The Great Lakes
continually face extremes in natural phenomena such as storms, erosion,
high waves, high and low water levels, and climate variability, all of
which influence water quality and efforts to restore habitat. Population
growth and changes in land use in the region will continue to increase
stresses on the Great Lakes, adding to the complexity of management
issues. The one thing that we can predict with near certainty is that
the Great Lakes ecosystem will continue to change, and adapting to those
changes poses a challenge for effective use and management.

In regard to water quality, multiple stressors directly or indirectly
affect the Great Lakes ecosystem. Harmful algal blooms and low bottom
water oxygen (hypoxia) are stressors to the Great Lakes ecosystem.
Invasive species are perhaps the greatest challenge to a healthy Great
Lakes. Add to this mix the impacts of local land use and climate change
and the situation becomes very complex, making management, restoration
and planning even more difficult.

In the early 1970s when Lake Erie was declared dead, the solution, based
on best available science, was relatively clear: nutrient loading must
be reduced. Our ecological understanding and technological know-how have
significantly improved since the 1970s. The Great Lakes have a large,
complex and economically important user base and are heavily impacted by
human activities with resultant multiple stresses. Many parts of the
lakes are highly eutrophic -- the result of an enrichment in dissolved
nutrients which has stimulated plant growth resulting in a depletion of
dissolved oxygen when the plant life decays. Eutrophication and other
stresses to the lakes have created the need for ecological prediction of
oxygen deficiency, harmful algal blooms, recreational water quality,
recreational and commercial fisheries production, invasive species and
extreme natural events (high winds, storms, dramatic changes in water
influx). Future successes will depend on a comprehensive and balanced
ecosystem approach.

**NOAA's ROLE IN THE GREAT LAKES**

NOAA's mission is: "To understand and predict changes in the Earth's
environment and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet
our Nation's economic, social and environmental needs." That mission
statement captures the essence of one of NOAA's four primary goals:
"Protect, restore and manage the use of coastal and ocean resources
through ecosystem-based management." NOAA has environmental stewardship,
assessment, and prediction responsibilities in the Great Lakes. NOAA
conducts physical, chemical, and biotic research and environmental
monitoring and modeling, providing scientific expertise and services to
manage and protect Great Lakes ecosystems. The preeminent research and
monitoring that NOAA conducts helps improve the understanding and
prediction of Great Lakes processes, including the connections among the
atmosphere, water and sediments. All of NOAA\'s offices play a vital
role in supporting the economy of the Great Lakes through NOAA\'s four
strategic themes --- ecosystems, weather and water, climate, and
commerce and transportation.

The Great Lakes ecosystem is one of the most clearly definable regions
under NOAA's purview and mission responsibilities, and the region holds
a long history of interagency partnerships and collaborations among
States, Tribes, and other Federal partners. The partnerships in the
Great Lakes region have led the Nation in innovative management
strategies for decades, with efforts that have spanned thousands of
miles, and provide a large-scale testing ground for new science and
management.

NOAA has over 15 Congressional mandates that guide its specific
responsibilities in the Great Lakes. NOAA is mandated to provide
research, monitoring and coordination throughout the Great Lakes Basin
on ecosystem issues such as water resources, invasive species, foodweb
dynamics, pollutants, hydrology, hydrodynamics, ice, water quantity and
quality and so forth. NOAA's programs in the Great Lakes work in
partnership with one another, and with other federal and state agencies
to provide comprehensive science, management, and technical assistance
tools to foster comprehensive environmental stewardship of the area.
NOAA's research, monitoring and operational services contribute to the
protection and restoration of the Great Lakes ecosystem and the
socio-economic health and safety of the public; most of these activities
are connected to water quality.

Water quality is affected by multiple factors, and therefore
improvements in water quality are dependent on a number of programs
coordinated to work in an efficient way to improve overall ecosystem
health. NOAA is working to address environmental issues in the Great
Lakes through a regional ecosystem approach. By using an ecosystem
approach, NOAA strives to use a science and policy framework that
recognizes the fundamental interconnections of all ecosystem components,
and emphasizes the maintenance of biological diversity, natural
relationships among all species including humans, and dynamic processes
that ensure ecosystem sustainability.

NOAA promotes a science-based approach to water quality improvements and
restoration and NOAA's research provides critical information toward
this end. Highlighted below are some of NOAA's efforts that contribute
to improvement of water quality through interagency coordination, state
partnerships, forecasts for Great Lakes conditions such as hypoxia,
restoration planning, research and response for harmful algal blooms and
aquatic nuisance species, monitoring activities, and hazardous materials
response.

Several of NOAA's activities in the Great Lakes specifically relate to
water quality improvement and restoration. For example, NOAA:

-   Predicts impacts of pollution and coastal development on sensitive
    habitats and resources, including the use of contaminant-monitoring
    sites in Green Bay, and Lakes Michigan, Huron, St. Clair, Erie and
    Ontario to determine contaminant trends;

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-   Works with states to analyze changes in coastal land cover and plan
    habitat restoration and conservation;

-   Acts on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce as a natural resource
    trustee for the public to protect and restore aquatic species and
    their habitats, and associated services such as safe navigation and
    transportation, recreation, commercial fishing, shoreline
    stabilization, and flood control;

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-   Collects, analyzes and distributes historical and real-time
    observations, and predictions of water levels, coastal currents and
    other meteorological and oceanographic data;

-   Leverages other assets such as the CoastWatch node in Ann Arbor to
    utilize NOAA environmental satellite and in-situ data to monitor the
    health of the ecosystem;

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-   Provides scientifically sound information on ecosystem processes and
    is developing ecosystem forecasting tools to improve management
    decisions, mitigate human impacts, and reduce the risks to human
    health;

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-   Develops and implements techniques and products to improve severe
    storm forecasting, and provides the weather and flood warnings,
    forecasts, and meteorological and hydrologic data used by research,
    environmental management, transportation, and community interests in
    the Great Lakes;

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-   Provides surveying, nautical charts, and other navigation services
    for safe shipping and boating;

-   Monitors ice hazards to maritime shipping industry, which is the
    lifeblood of the industry and commerce on the Great Lakes and St.
    Lawrence Seaway;

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-   Partners with universities through the National Sea Grant College
    Program and GLERL to encourage stewardship of Great Lakes coastal
    natural resources by providing funding to, and conducting joint
    projects with area universities for research, education, outreach
    and technology transfer;

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-   Partners with state Coastal Zone Management Programs to work with
    local communities and state agencies to preserve, protect, develop,
    restore, and enhance coastal zone resources, providing research,
    education, and protection of coastal and estuarine areas by
    balancing state and national interests to promote conservation and
    responsible development; and

-   Protects and provides interpretive information on approximately 160
    historic shipwrecks at the 448-square mile Thunder Bay National
    Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve, located off the coast of
    Alpena, Michigan in Lake Huron.

**REGIONAL PARTNERSHIPS**

In 2006, NOAA created eight regional teams in recognition of the unique
needs of the various geographic regions of the U.S. The Great Lakes is
one of these regions and I lead this effort. NOAA is well represented in
the Great Lakes by over 65 physical offices and 140 programs. Applying a
regional approach means that NOAA will draw upon the expertise of its
regional offices and partners to champion the improved development,
implementation, and delivery of products and services in the Great Lakes
region. NOAA's strength and capacity derive from strong collaborative
ties among its programs and with its partners and customers. Through the
regional approach NOAA is improving outreach and communications to
increase awareness and delivery of our services and also develop them
from the bottom up to ensure they best serve the needs of the public. It
is at the regional scale that NOAA can blend the place-based needs of
customers and partners with its priorities and responsibilities as a
federal agency. Ensuring consistent, high-value services to NOAA
customers is more important than ever, especially given recent public
attention to the state of the oceans, the effects of climate change, and
impacts of natural disasters. Strengthening these relationships also is
essential to the "one NOAA" principles of improved internal
communications and efficiency.

Regional Collaboration will improve our value to customers by
identifying and applying NOAA's full range of capabilities, within and
across regions. It will also allow us to design the best solutions to
address geographically specific problems. This effort will use existing
authority and accountability structures and does not entail changes to
NOAA's organizational structure. NOAA's leadership is committed to
Regional Collaboration as an approach to engaging partners and
customers, and delivering NOAA services. A senior leadership team has
been established to guide the efforts of regional and priority area
teams as they engage with external partners to develop and implement
strategies that address the following priorities in the regions: hazard
resilient coastal communities, integrated ecosystem assessments, and
integrated water resource services.

**INTERAGENCY COORDINATION**

Interagency partnerships and collaborations have played a historic role
in efforts to protect the Great Lakes ecosystem and improve water
quality. Underpinning the foundation for collaboration in the Great
Lakes is the President\'s U.S. Ocean Action Plan of December 17, 2004,
which calls on federal agencies to work together with their partners in
state, local and tribal authorities, as well as with the private sector,
our international partners and other interests, to make our oceans,
coasts, and Great Lakes cleaner, healthier, and more productive.

Also in 2004, President Bush established the Great Lakes Interagency
Task Force through the Great Lakes Executive Order, which promotes
partnership among federal agencies to help protect and restore the Great
Lakes.

Currently, NOAA is also appointed as the U.S. chair to the International
Joint Commission's Council of Great Lakes Research Managers. The
International Joint Commission has overall water quality
responsibilities for the Great Lakes. The Council of Great Lakes
Research Managers has responsibilities to coordinate Great Lakes
Research related to water quality.

**THE ROLE OF RESEARCH IN SERVING THE PUBLIC**

Research underpins NOAA's science-based mission of understanding and
predicting changes in the Earth's environment and conserving and
managing coastal and marine resources to meet our Nation's economic,
social, and environmental needs. Robust environmental observation,
assessment, and prediction capabilities provide the foundation for
performing NOAA's mission. Research is the cornerstone on which to build
and improve environmental forecasts that can enable ecosystem-based
management and provide critical weather, climate, and water quality
information for decision makers and the public. We ensure NOAA research
and services meet the needs of our stakeholders by seeking regular
feedback from the research community, operational users, and
stakeholders. NOAA scientists and our external partners work together to
improve the quality of people's lives and to meet our Nation's economic,
social, and environmental needs.

**[Ecosystem Forecasting]{.underline}**

NOAA conducts scientific research directed towards creating new tools
and approaches for management and protection of coastal ecosystems that
can also lead to improvements in water quality. To anticipate and
minimize how stresses from human and natural causes will affect
ecological processes, NOAA is developing ecological forecasting tools
that predict the effects of biological, chemical, physical, and
human-induced changes on ecosystems and their components. These tools
include research on understanding ecological processes, conceptual
models of ecosystem function, and statistical and process-driven
prediction models. As these tools are developed in the research
environment, NOAA scientists identify, consult, and collaborate with
user groups representing the ultimate operators and beneficiaries to
determine the most useful operational parameters, products, and delivery
methods. This often requires the involvement of the operational branches
of NOAA to plan for routine application and dissemination of ecological
forecasts. Public workshops are conducted to identify user needs and
services are developed accordingly. This model has been successfully
applied by GLERL for forecasts of Great Lakes ice conditions, water
levels, circulation and thermal structure, and waves, and is in the
process of being applied for beach closures, harmful algal blooms,
hypoxia/anoxia, and fish recruitment.

**[Lake Erie "Dead Zone"]{.underline}**

An important research project is addressing the Lake Erie hypoxic or
"dead" zone that has grown worse in recent years. Hypoxia has been
responsible for the contamination of drinking water supplies and death
of wildlife. NOAA's Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research (CSCOR)
in the National Ocean Service's National Centers for Coastal Ocean
Science is funding a project to create, test and apply models to
forecast how anthropogenic (land use, invasive species) and natural
stresses (climatic variability) influence hypoxia formation and ecology
in Lake Erie, with an emphasis on fish production. Currently funded
projects are mapping the extent of hypoxia across Lake Erie,
investigating the causes and consequences of hypoxia and forecasting
alternatives for the management of nutrient loading to minimize harmful
phytoplankton problems in zebra mussel-invaded habitats.

In 2005, GLERL, in collaboration with researchers from the U.S. and
Canada, initiated one of the largest, most comprehensive Lake Erie
research field programs ever conducted. The project, the International
Field Years on Lake Erie (IFYLE), is focused on hypoxia and harmful
algal blooms. Lake Erie's harmful algal blooms in the west basin,
recurring low oxygen episodes ("dead zones") in the central basin, and
invasive species have the potential to disrupt normal food web and
ecosystem processes, and in turn, jeopardize the ability of Lake Erie to
provide valued ecosystem services (e.g., recreational and commercial
fish production, safe drinking water, and clean, bacteria-free beaches).
The primary objectives of the IFYLE program are to evaluate the causes
and impacts of hypoxia and harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie.

The IFYLE program involves approximately 40 scientists from NOAA, 17
different universities, and private institutions spread across 7 states
and 4 countries. This program is integrative with involvement by
numerous U.S. and Canadian universities and federal, state, and
provincial agencies.

**[NOAA Center of Excellence for Great Lakes and Human
Health]{.underline}**

The NOAA Center of Excellence for Great Lakes and Human Health began in
2004 and focuses on understanding the inter-relationships between the
Great Lakes ecosystem, water quality and human health. The Center
employs a multidisciplinary approach to understand and forecast
coastal-related human health impacts for natural resource and public
policy decision-making, and develop forecasting tools to reduce human
health risks associated with three research priority areas: beach
closures, harmful algal blooms, and drinking water quality.

One example of the need for forecasting coastal-related human health
impacts deals with drinking water quality. The Cleveland Water District
provides drinking water to approximately 1.5 million people in 72
communities in Northeast Ohio. The water system gets its source water
from the Lake Erie Central Basin through four water intakes covering
approximately 27 miles of shoreline in the greater Cleveland area. In
August 2006, three of the four Cleveland Water District water treatment
plants were exposed to hypoxic water from Lake Erie, compromising water
quality in the system. Hypoxic waters are low in pH and temperature and
have a high manganese content that negatively impacts water processing.
In an effort to investigate, research, and limit future water quality
impacts to Cleveland's drinking water, GLERL, in collaboration with the
Ohio Sea Grant Program, deployed Real-Time Coastal Observation Network
(ReCON) buoys during the 2007 field year to develop mitigating solutions
to the problem of hypoxic water intake. The ability to observe the onset
of hypoxic waters in real-time by ReCON buoys has resulted in an early
warning system allowing the Cleveland Water District the advance notice
required to place alternate processing and storage techniques on standby
during hypoxia events. In addition, real-time observations of Lake Erie
temperature profiles provide the ability to detect deep water movement
that can result in sudden changes in oxygen, pH, and temperature levels
at water intakes. Future forecast plans include the prediction of these
deep water movements using local wind forecasts.

The Center uses a multidisciplinary approach to translate scientific
information and research into materials to aid health officials, local
governments, and communities in making sound environmental decisions.
Working with the end users is critical for this process to be effective.
As one example, during 2006 and 2007 the Center held user needs
workshops in Toledo, Bay City, and Green Bay to discuss how harmful
algal blooms can affect drinking water quality. The purpose of these
workshops was to bring together public health and natural resource
managers and decision makers interested in harmful algal blooms to
determine the extent of the harmful algal bloom issue in the region,
create a venue to understand and assess existing knowledge of harmful
algal blooms, and identify methods in which these blooms are monitored
for and reported to the public. Stakeholders from the public health,
drinking water, and beach management sectors, as well as academia, U.S.
and Canadian federal, state, county and city governments, and community
members participated. This type of outreach is critical to identify
community needs and translate scientific information into a concise,
easily understood format.

**[Managing Impacts of Multiple Stressors in Coastal
Ecosystems]{.underline}**

A new 5-year project was initiated in 2007 to examine the way in which
multiple stressors, including watershed nutrient inputs, declining water
levels, and invasive species, affect management goals and activities and
economics in Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. Project participants include
GLERL, universities, state management agencies and the private sector.
The state management participants will help to clarify the primary
endpoints of public concern such as nuisance algae, harmful algal
blooms, and sport-fish growth rates. Project participants will develop
several parallel ecosystem-scale models that will describe our current
understanding of the relationship between the important ecosystem
stressors and the endpoints of concern, and lead to a new way to fully
integrate research and management.

**[Harmful Algal Bloom Research and Response]{.underline}**

A stressor that leads to reductions in water quality is the rapid
proliferation of toxic or nuisance algae, called a harmful algal bloom.
Harmful algal blooms include cyanobacteria, especially *Microcystis*,
which can produce potent toxins; and macro algae, such as *Cladophora*,
that build up on beaches, impacting tourism and recreation. In the Great
Lakes, NOAA scientists have documented harmful algal bloom toxin levels
that were 10 times higher than the World Health Organization
recreational standards. NOAA is working with its federal partners to
organize harmful algal bloom research around a suite of complementary
and interconnected programs and activities that involve a mix of
extramural and intramural research, long-term regional ecosystem-scale
studies supported by short-term targeted studies, collaborations between
academic and federal scientists, and multiple partnerships with Federal,
state and tribal managers. EPA, a key partner, is working to determine
whether cyanotoxins should be regulated under the Safe Drinking Water
Act, but does not yet have sufficient information to make this
determination.

**[Great Lakes Coastal Forecasting System]{.underline}**

In April, 2006, NOAA announced the completion of the Great Lakes
Operational Forecast System (GLOFS) for lakes Superior, Huron, and
Ontario. This system is a NOAA automated model-based prediction system
aimed at providing improved predictions (guidance) of water levels,
water currents and water temperatures in the 5 Great Lakes (Erie,
Michigan, Superior, Huron and Ontario) for the commercial, recreation,
and emergency response communities. This system is an excellent example
of how NOAA is meeting its mission responsibility through research
projects that were developed in NOAA laboratories and are now being
transferred to operational use. This forecast system, which is built on
15 years of solid research and testing, benefits all who use the Great
Lakes -- be it for recreational or commercial purposes. In addition to
supporting critical economic uses, the GLOFS also enhances efforts to
promote public safety by providing better navigational and coastal
information to civil authorities and coastal managers involved in search
and rescue missions and other emergency response operations.

NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services
maintains the GLOFS in an operational environment 24 hours a day, seven
days a week to provide accurate information needed by the diverse user
population in their day-to-day use of the lakes. GLOFS generates hourly
"nowcast" guidance (analyses) for present conditions and four times
daily forecast guidance (out to 30 hours) of total water level, current
speed and direction, and water temperature for each of the Great Lakes.
The GLOFS predictions enable users to increase the margin of safety and
maximize the efficiency of commerce throughout the Great Lakes. Both the
nowcasts and the forecasts use information generated by a
three-dimensional hydrodynamic model that includes real-time data and
forecast guidance for winds, water levels, and other meteorological
parameters to predict water levels, currents, and temperatures at
thousands of locations throughout the five lakes. Key products include
data and animated map plots of water levels, water currents, and water
temperatures; these products are available at
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ofs/glofs.html.

**RESTORATION**

NOAA's restoration activities in the Great Lakes region are important
for the improvement of water quality because they restore habitat and
clean contaminated sites. In support of the President's Great Lakes
Executive Order, NOAA's FY 2008 budget request includes \$1.5 million to
establish a Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program that will mobilize
NOAA's restoration assets to restore Great Lakes aquatic resources and
serve as a focal point for NOAA's broader restoration efforts in the
region. The program will also support major restoration projects in
Great Lakes Areas of Concern that achieve significant improvement in
habitat function and provide community-wide human use benefits, while
ensuring appropriate monitoring and feedback. Working with our partners,
results will be used to apply lessons learned to other science-based
restoration efforts throughout the Great Lakes basin.

NOAA's restoration role includes coordinating with remedial agencies on
cleanup of contaminated sites, restoring injured resources and lost
services, natural resource damage assessments and restoration in
conjunction with other trustee agencies, working with states, tribes,
and other partners to fund habitat restoration projects, and conducting
research and monitoring activities. NOAA, through the Damage Assessment,
Remediation, and Restoration Program, works with our partner agencies
including states, tribes, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to
promote assessments and cleanup activities that will protect the aquatic
environment, integrate restoration into clean up actions, and reduce
overall injury to natural resources. By working cooperatively at sites
with remedial and trustee agencies, local groups, and potentially
responsible parties, NOAA decreases contaminant loads, reduces risks to
protect sensitive species, and improves and restores habitat function.
This can be accomplished through NOAA's trustee authority to
cooperatively address liability, to assess natural resource damages, and
to restore natural resources. NOAA is currently addressing cleanup and
restoration at 16 hazardous waste sites in the Great Lakes region.

**AQUATIC NUISANCE SPECIES RESEARCH AND RESPONSE**

Aquatic nuisance species have the potential to impact water quality. For
example, recent declines in water quality (e.g., harmful algal blooms,
*Cladophora* outbreaks) in the Great Lakes have been attributed to the
establishment of zebra and quagga mussels, prolific invasive species
which have fundamentally altered ecosystem food webs and nutrient
cycling. The major pathways by which aquatic nuisance species reach U.S.
ecosystems all involve human activities, especially commerce and trade.
Solutions to problems related to aquatic nuisance species will
undoubtedly affect both the costs and policies of commerce and trade.
Congress (in the *Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990*
(16 U.S.C. 4701 *et seq.*)) and the White House (in Executive Order
13112) identified aquatic species invasions as a growing national
problem requiring federal action.

NOAA is one of several federal agencies given joint responsibility for
developing and implementing a national aquatic nuisance species response
and action plan. NOAA serves as co-chair of both the national Aquatic
Nuisance Species Task Force and the Invasive Species Council. The NOAA
Sea Grant program, GLERL, and CSCOR are three programs that invest in
research towards understanding, preventing, responding to, and managing
aquatic species invasions in U.S. coastal ecosystems.

In July 2003, NOAA established the NOAA National Center for Research on
Aquatic Invasive Species, a virtual center for the coordination of
existing research programs throughout NOAA. The Center, administratively
housed at GLERL, fosters partnerships to address prevention, early
detection, rapid response, and management of invasive species, a major
restoration and water quality issue for Great Lakes ecosystems.

It is safe to say that the risks associated with ballast water
introductions have been reduced by the regulatory requirements imposed
on vessels entering U.S. ports from beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone.
GLERL, in conjunction with the Smithsonian Environmental Research
Center, recently completed a scientific assessment of the effectiveness
of ballast water exchange and concluded that, in the absence of
effective alternative treatment technologies, the use of ballast water
exchange has reduced the risk of ballast associated invasions to our
coastal estuaries. In addition, new policies and regulations by both the
U.S. and Canada have been established for vessels entering the Great
Lakes that officially have no ballast on board (NOBOB vessels). These
new requirements were based on findings of the NOBOB Research Program
led by GLERL that NOBOB vessels still presented a level of invasion
risk. Finally, considerable work has been done on development of new
technologies to treat ballast water.

We have made progress in documenting the occurrences and spread of
invasive species. Some of the best documented areas are the Great Lakes,
where both Canadian and U.S. entities have played a significant role in
documenting nonindigenous species occurrences. GLERL is creating a
specific Great Lakes database in partnership with the U.S. Geological
Survey, which will be rolled-out by the end of this calendar year. Even
with baselines, though, monitoring of new introductions and invasion
rates will continue to be problematic. Survey work is expensive in terms
of both human and financial resources, and we cannot monitor all areas
all of the time. We will continue to be dependent on observant
individuals (including the general public), as illustrated by the most
recent discovery of a new species in the Great Lakes: bloody red shrimp.
Even though GLERL does extensive survey work, the bloody red shrimp was
not found by our scientists as part of a formal survey. Instead, it
resulted from an independent observation by one of our scientists at our
boat docking facility near Muskegon, Michigan. The identification of new
species (and ascertaining whether they are new introductions) and
determining if such species are potentially invasive will continue to be
an issue.

Finally, the most extensive scientific work has documented an apparent
connection between zebra mussels and several deleterious impacts to the
Great Lakes including toxic blue-green algal blooms, major impacts in
the trophic chain with the disappearance of the benthic amphipod
*Diporeia*, decreased growth of Great Lakes whitefish, and avian
botulism in the Great Lakes causing thousands of water fowl deaths.
Research is now being conducted to determine if there is a link between
the mussels and expansion of the dead zone in Lake Erie.

**SUMMARY**

Water-quality improvements and restoration need to be based on the best
available science and an ecosystem-based management approach is
essential. NOAA's research in the Great Lakes takes a proactive approach
and is focused on predicting ecosystem response to management decisions.
By predicting the effects of biological, chemical, physical and
human-induced changes on ecosystems and their components, decision
makers will be better informed and have the tools to make economically
and ecologically sound decisions.

Thank you again for inviting me to present this overview of NOAA's
current contributions to water quality improvements in Great Lakes
ecosystems.

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have.