STATEMENT OF COLONEL WILLIAM E. RYAN III
DEPUTY COMMANDER, GREAT LAKES & OHIO RIVER
DIVISION
U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
BEFORE THE
UNITED STATES SENATE
COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
ON
CURRENT AND FUTURE EFFORTS TO RESTORE AND PROTECT
GREAT LAKES
Senator Voinovich,
I am pleased to testify before you on the restoration and protection of the
Great Lakes.
The Great Lakes
system is one of our nation’s most vital natural resources. The world’s largest freshwater system
provides millions of U.S. and Canadian residents water for consumption,
transportation, power, recreation, and a number of other uses. I look forward to continuing to work with
our sister agencies, such as EPA, and other partners and stakeholders on
approaches for restoring and protecting the Great Lakes.
My comments focus on Federal
and non-Federal roles in addressing water issues on the Great Lakes and the
importance of an integrated and collaborative process involving all affected
parties to assure the protection of this vital resource. I will conclude with an overview of the
various Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works programs and other activities that
are focused on addressing Great Lakes water resources issues.
Primacy for water resources
management in the U. S. has been and must continue to be at the State and local
level. While it is appropriate for the
Federal government to be involved in issues of international, national or
multi-state significance, such as the management of the Great Lakes water
resources, it is the States, and in particular the Governors, who should be
establishing the priorities for management of these shared water
resources. The scope and technical
complexity of water issues and the extent of desired participation by
stakeholders mean that the Federal government can facilitate state and local
leadership by being responsive to their requests for effective coordination
among Federal and non-Federal restoration programs and by bringing Federal
analysis and program support to State and local efforts.
The diversity of restoration
challenges of the Great Lakes Basin has spawned a number of intergovernmental
organizations and committees to coordinate one or more specific issue, whether
it is invasive species, wetlands restoration, water management, non-point
source pollution, or contaminated sediments.
A significant amount of planning and coordination has already been
accomplished through these existing organizations and committees, including the
U.S. Policy Committee, Great Lakes Commission, Council of Great Lakes
Governors, and Great Lakes Fishery Commission.
The restoration challenges
facing the Great Lakes are numerous and complex. The Great Lakes restoration challenges include contaminated
sediments, invasive species, non-point source pollution, habitat alteration and
loss, fish and wildlife conservation, and water management within a framework
of two countries, eight States and two Provinces.
We believe that continuing
restoration of the Great Lakes benefits from a watershed perspective,
emphasizing collaboration and integration.
Success requires the participation of all interested parties in the
planning and decision-making process.
This participation would foster an open dialogue to integrate sometimes
competing or conflicting water resource needs.
Such integration and collaboration are indispensable to meeting water
challenges.
The Corps has a variety of
Civil Works programs that are being utilized for the protection, enhancement
and restoration of the Great Lakes ecosystem.
The size and importance of this water resource and the complexity of the
challenges before it necessitate a team approach to its management. The Corps has worked as a team member, as
well as team leader, in different aspects of the collective environmental programs
for the Great Lakes Basin.
The Corps has been a member
of the team that monitors, predicts and regulates water withdrawals, flows and
diversions through our support to the International Joint Commission (IJC)
Boards of Control and reference studies.
The Corps has been a member of the U.S. Policy Committee, and
participated in the development of their Strategic Plan to facilitate the
implementation of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The Corps has provided technical assistance
to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the development of
Lakewide Management Plans. The Corps
has also provided technical assistance to States and local groups for the
development and implementation of Remedial Action Plans (RAPs) at sixteen of
the Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs).
The Corps has been a leader
of team efforts to protect and restore the Great Lakes ecosystem from invasive
species, including the dispersal barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
and sea lamprey barriers at various Great Lakes tributaries. The Corps is also leading the Great Lakes
Fishery & Ecosystem Restoration program and other programs to restore and
enhance aquatic habitat in the Great Lakes Basin in partnership with the Great
Lakes Fishery Commission, Great Lakes States and Tribes.
Perhaps the most significant
program the Corps has led to date is the removal and confinement of
contaminated sediments from Federal navigation channels in the Great
Lakes. Although this program was
conceived as a measure for environmental protection rather than restoration,
the Corps, in partnership with State and local governments has removed over 90
million cubic yards of contaminated sediments from the Great Lakes through this
program. Over 70 million of that was
from Great Lakes AOCs. Using its
expertise in management of contaminated sediments, the Corps has been working
with other Federal agencies and Great Lakes States on sediment cleanup
projects. The Corps continues to work
in partnership with the EPA to evaluate and demonstrate new and improved
technologies for managing contaminated sediments.
Through a more recent
program, the Corps is currently leading projects for environmental dredging at
eight Great Lakes AOCs in partnership with State and local agencies.
The Corps conducted one the
first ecosystem restoration plans for Lake Erie in cooperation with the EPA
approximately 30 years ago and is conducting watershed management planning for
what some call the sixth Great Lake, Lake St. Clair, in partnership with
Federal, State and local agencies.
The Corps has four basinwide studies ongoing that are
addressing specific or general water resource needs of the Great Lakes. The first of these is a U.S.-Canadian
collaborative study of the existing navigation infrastructure in the Great
Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. We are
working with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Transport Canada, and the
U.S. and Canadian Management organizations for the St. Lawrence Seaway to
establish the baseline conditions of the existing infrastructure, commercial
navigation use, and the environmental conditions of the Lakes and St. Lawrence
River that may be impacted by the navigation system. We are also developing a bi-national framework for collaboration
and partnership among the States and Provinces, Federal agencies, local
entities, and stakeholders.
The second basinwide study
is an inventory of biohydrologic information relevant to Great Lakes water
management and will include a gap analysis of water-related data. This study is closely integrated with the
Annex 2001 activities of the Great Lakes Governors.
The third basinwide study we
have initiated in partnership with the Great Lakes States is an evaluation of
the economic benefits of recreational boating in the Great Lakes, in particular
those utilizing the Federal navigation system.
The fourth Great Lakes study
the Corps is helping to develop a strategic plan in collaboration with the
Great Lakes Commission. As authorized
in Section 455(a) of the Water Resources Development Act of 1999, this study
will produce a report to Congress with an analysis of existing water resource
needs identified by Great Lakes States and stakeholders and recommendations for
new or modified authorities to address unmet needs.
The Corps is pleased to have
had the opportunity to appear before you and provide testimony on this
important subject. We value highly the
water resources of the Great Lakes, the partnerships we have formed with our
sister Federal agencies, the Canadians, the Great Lakes States, Tribes, local
governments and stakeholder groups in managing and protecting this unique
resource.
The Corps looks forward to
continuing these partnerships. Mr.
Chairman, this concludes my remarks. I
would be happy to answer any questions.