Mayors in towns and cities in Canada and the United States have been called upon to build on local investments to protect the 'greatest source of freshwater on earth.'

On June 16th, Mayors of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative called on the American and Canadian Federal Governments to build on the U.S. Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and local investments by making a bi-national sustainable commitment to the region, supported by long term funding.

"Protecting and restoring the world's largest freshwater resource and source of drinking water for 40 million people must be a priority for our two countries," said Mayor Brian McMullan of St. Catharines and chair of the Cities Initiative. "The U.S. Great Lakes Restoration Initiative should serve as a model at the binational level and create a shared commitment which will require support through significant investments from both Canada and the U.S. to become a reality."

Mayors welcomed the U.S. Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, under which the U.S. Federal Government committed $475 million in 2010 for non-infrastructure protection and restoration projects in the Great Lakes region. On a per capita basis, that represents about $15 per year for each of the 32 million Americans living in the Great Lakes basin

"The Mayors of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence appreciate the US federal government's commitment to local investment in Great Lakes protection through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative," said Mayor Tom Barrett of Milwaukee, vice chair of the Cities Initiative. "We hope to continue to strengthen this partnership and collaboration for the betterment of the Lakes."

Investments are needed to respond to the enormous challenges facing the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence and local communities. These include the eutrophication of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, adapting cities to climate change, protecting shorelines, and preserving wetlands and other coastal habitat areas. This infustion into non-infrastructure projects and programs would be complementary to major investments that are needed to address the multi-billion dollar deficit for water infrastructure in both countries.

Great Lakes and St. Lawrence cities on both sides of the border are realizing significant returns from their investments in efforts to protect and restore the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. Cities invest more than $15 billion annually to protect and restore the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence.

Municipal investments have shown great returns, in terms of economic and environmental development and quality of life.

• Milwaukee is redeveloping and revitalizing an old industrial corridor located along the Menomonee River, now known as the Menomonee Valley Industrial Centre and Community. The $54 million project, of which Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District are investing more than $24 million, will ultimately create an estimated 1,075 jobs by 2012.
• The City of Trois-Rivieres, situated on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, has adopted a goal of preserving one acre of land for every acre developed, in order to protect the biodiversity of the region. In just over a year and a half, the city has already preserved 316 acres with rich ecosystem and biodiversity potential.
• As a result of the City of Racine's North Beach restoration and revitalization work, North Beach has not posted a beach closure since 2007 and the city can net almost $2 million per summer just from overnight stays associated with two major sporting events that make use of the beach.
• The Municipality of Chatam-Kent and the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority work together on the "Greening/Reforestation Partnership" which includes an Annual Tree Program. As part of the municipality's investment and other funding sources, three full time and two to three seasonal positions have been created. Over 146 acres of land has been naturally restored.

Of course, the cleanup of Collingwood's waterfront and harbour area is of the great success stories. Environment Canada explains that in order to improve the environmental conditions of nuisance growths of algae in the harbour and contaminated sediments, a Remedial Action Plan (RAP) was developed for Collingwood Harbour. The Collingwood RAP was a partnership between the federal and provincial governments with cooperation from the Public Advisory Committee (PAC). The PAC was a group of citizens who represented industry, labour, municipal agencies, farmers, environmental organizations and recreational groups.

This plan, which was initiated in 1987, involved the following steps:

• defining the problem
• planning for implementation
• implementing the actions
• monitoring the restoration of the environment

A number of recommended remedial actions to restore the above environmental conditions were selected through the RAP process, which included extensive consultation with the public. The RAP team implemented these recommendations, followed by an evaluation period. It was determined that the environmental concerns had been restored and that Collingwood Harbour should no longer be considered an Area of Concern.

The Stage Three RAP document was submitted to the federal and provincial environment ministers in June 1994. The International Joint Commission (IJC) received the document in August 1994, and in November 1994, the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario the federal and provincial governments delisted Collingwood Harbour, in concordance with the International Joint Commission.

"Mayors and their communities continue to assume a strong leadership role on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence," said Mayor Sandra Cooper. "Our actions highlighted at the Annual meeting in Niagara Falls this year are yet another example of this leadership."