Detroit River and Western Lake Erie:

Restoring to the Future

Detroit River and Western Lake Erie:

Restoring to the Future

Karen Rodriguez

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Great Lakes National Program Office

312-353-2690

rodriguez.karen@epa.gov

Karen Rodriguez

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Great Lakes National Program Office

312-353-2690

rodriguez.karen@epa.gov

This country is so temperate, so fertile, so beautiful, that it may be called the earthly paradise of North America.

Antoine de Cadillac 1702Antoine de Cadillac 1702

This country is so temperate, so fertile, so beautiful, that it may be called the earthly paradise of North America.

Antoine de Cadillac 1702Antoine de Cadillac 1702

Ojibway Prairie

Swans

We—human beings—are part of 'biodiversity.' We are

dependent on the whole food chain down below us

Darrell Merrell, heirloom vegetable farmer

The Great Lakes contain

6 Quadrillion gallons of water

The Great Lakes contain

6 Quadrillion gallons of water

18% of world’s and 95% of North America’s fresh surface water

18% of world’s and 95% of North America’s fresh surface water

Daily,56 billion gallons

of water are used by municipalities,

agriculture, and industry

Daily,56 billion gallons

of water are used by municipalities,

agriculture, and industry

42 million people depend on the Great

Lakes for their drinking water

42 million people depend on the Great

Lakes for their drinking water

17,000 kilometers of coastline

17,000 kilometers of coastline

600 sand beaches

in the U.S.

600 sand beaches

in the U.S.

World’s largest collection

of freshwater sand dunes

World’s largest collection

of freshwater sand dunes

31,000 islands31,000 islands

217,000 hectares of

coastal wetlands

217,000 hectares of

coastal wetlands

$1 billion/year recreational

fishing industry

$1 billion/year recreational

fishing industry

70 million people visit parks

annually

70 million people visit parks

annually

$100 billion in world trade$100 billion

in world trade

Persistent harmful chemicals have been an enduring legacy for at least a hundred years, posing a threat to human and wildlife health

Persistent harmful chemicals have been an enduring legacy for at least a hundred years, posing a threat to human and wildlife health

Invasive nuisance species are disrupting the food web and causing billions of dollars in damage to infrastructures such as water intakes. It appears the fishery is being affected

Invasive nuisance species are disrupting the food web and causing billions of dollars in damage to infrastructures such as water intakes. It appears the fishery is being affected

Destruction of habitats such as wetlands and river corridors, is resulting in diminished ecosystem services

Destruction of habitats such as wetlands and river corridors, is resulting in diminished ecosystem services

Great Lakes Water Quality AgreementGreat Lakes Water Quality Agreement

Great Lakes Regional CollaborationGreat Lakes Regional Collaboration

Great Lakes Regional Collaboration

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

Great Lakes Regional Collaboration

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

Walleye

Bass

Peregrine falcon

Whitefish

Bald eagle

Great blue heron

Lake sturgeon

Canvasback

Diving Duck

Wild celery

Ojibway PrairieBelle Isle

Ecosystem services are the conditions and processes through which natural ecosystems, and the species that are part of them, help sustain and fulfill human life.

State-of-the-Art Approaches for Assessment of Great Lakes Nearshore

and Large River Fish Habitat

• Rivers—lack of real time monitoring; channel habitat data; large river floodplains

• Nearshore—no comprehensive survey of bathymetry, substrate and vegetation; no uniform classification system across the basin

Habitat Modification• Rehabilitation emphasizes the reparation of ecosystem

processes, productivity and services, not pre-existing integrity

• Reclamation, usually applied to mining, is the stabilization of the terrain, assurance of public safety, aesthetic improvement, and usually a return of the land to what, within the regional context, is considered to be a useful purpose

• Mitigation is an action that is intended to compensate environmental damage

• Creation is conducted as mitigation on terrain that is entirely devoid of vegetation

• Ecological engineering involves manipulation of natural materials, living organisms and the physical-chemical environment to achieve specific human goals and solve technical problems

• Ecological restoration is the process of assisting with the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed

• Ecological restoration is the process of assisting with the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed

What is ecological restoration?What is ecological restoration?

Habitat restoration timelineHabitat restoration timeline• Sources controlled• Sites restored• On a trajectory to full

recovery

• Sources controlled• Sites restored• On a trajectory to full

recovery

Full recoveryFull recovery

Long term monitoringLong term monitoringRestoration activities

Restoration activities

On the road to recoveryOn the road to recoveryTrajectory Trajectory

What interventions are employed in ecological restoration?

What interventions are employed in ecological restoration?

• Interventions employed in ecological restoration vary widely among projects and programs

– Removal or modification of a specific disturbance

– Deliberate reintroduction of native species

– Facilitate the resumption of those processes which will return the ecosystem to its intended trajectory

• Interventions employed in ecological restoration vary widely among projects and programs

– Removal or modification of a specific disturbance

– Deliberate reintroduction of native species

– Facilitate the resumption of those processes which will return the ecosystem to its intended trajectory

Eastern Lake Ontario

Ashland, Wisconsin

Miller Woods, IN

• Ecological restoration may include the recovery of indigenous ecological management practices, including support for the cultural survival of indigenous people and their languages as living libraries of ecological knowledge

• What makes ecological restoration especially inspiring is that cultural practices and ecological processes can be mutually reinforcing

• Ecological restoration may include the recovery of indigenous ecological management practices, including support for the cultural survival of indigenous people and their languages as living libraries of ecological knowledge

• What makes ecological restoration especially inspiring is that cultural practices and ecological processes can be mutually reinforcing

Indigenous ecological managementIndigenous ecological management

What is meant by “recovery” in ecological restoration?

What is meant by “recovery” in ecological restoration?

• An ecosystem has recovered - and is restored - when it contains sufficient biotic and abiotic resources to continue its development without further assistance or subsidy

• An ecosystem has recovered - and is restored - when it contains sufficient biotic and abiotic resources to continue its development without further assistance or subsidy

Ft. Erie, Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority Ft. Erie, Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority

BeforeBefore AfterAfter

Degenerating System

Conventional Practice ‘One step better than breaking the law’ (Croxton)

Regenerating System

More energy required Less stable

Less energy required More stable

Green LEED, Green Globe, GB tool, etc.

Sustainable Natural – 100% less bad’ (McDonough)Technologies

Techniques

Fragmented

Monoculture

Restorative Humans doing things to nature – assisting the evolution of sub-

systems

Regenerative Humans participating as

nature – Co-evolution of the Whole System

Living Systems Understanding

Whole Systems

Relationships

Understanding

Diversity

Reciprocity

Trajectory of Environmental Design (Reed, 2006; Modified by Bowers, 2007)

Woodland, Belle Isle

Belanger Park

Restoring to the future requires:

• Understanding ecosystems• Development and use of appropriate tools• Linking ecological restoration and economic

development• Sharing information• Partnerships

The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river

Ross Perot

Mud Island

Belle Isle

Lake sturgeon

Humbug Marsh

Chorus frog

Oak Savanna, Ojibway

Black Lagoon

Elias Cove

Langlois St. to Moy Ave.

Alan Levere, Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection

A river is the report card for its watershed

Canada Ontario Agreement

Fox snake

Blandings turtle

RV Lake Guardian

Spiderwort, Humbug Island

Humbug Island

Cleaning up the river

When we save a river, we save a major part of an ecosystem, and we save ourselves as well because of our dependence—physical, economic, spiritual—on the water and its community of life

Tim Palmer, The Wild and Scenic Rivers of America

Karner blue butterfly

Yellow lady’s slipper orchid

Trout Lilies at Belle Isle

Thank you to the following for use of their photographs:

Suzan Cambell

Mary Bohling

David Howell

Brenda Jones

Molly Thompson

Paul Labus

Ben Legler

Thank you to the following for use of their photographs:

Suzan Cambell

Mary Bohling

David Howell

Brenda Jones

Molly Thompson

Paul Labus

Ben Legler

Karen RodriguezU.S. Environmental Protection AgencyGreat Lakes National Program Office312-353-2690; rodriguez.karen@epa.gov