Identifying the Critical Path and Building Coalitions for Restoring Degraded Areas of the Great Lakes

by J. H. Hartig, Wayne State Univ, Detroit, United States,
D. P. Dodge, Wayne State Univ, Detroit, United States,
L. Lovett-Doust, Wayne State Univ, Detroit, United States,
K. Fuller, Wayne State Univ, Detroit, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Water Resources Planning and Management: Saving a Threatened Resource?In Search of Solutions

Abstract:

Since 1985, eight Great Lakes States, the Province of Ontario, and the governments of Canada and the United States have led the development and implementation of remedial action plans (RAPs) to restore impaired beneficial uses in 43 Great Lakes Areas of Concern. RAPs are a comprehensive blueprint for restoration of impaired beneficial uses which identifies when remedial and preventive actions will be taken and who is responsible for implementation. RAPs clearly define the critical path to restoration so that accountability is ensured, progress tracked and obstacles overcome. Currently, 33 of 43 Areas of Concern have a stakeholder group, citizen committee, or comparable group representative of environmental, social, and economic interests in each area. Such institutional structures, charged with public participation, are changing the traditional way of doing business through direct involvement in decision-making. Broad-based agreement among stakeholders at key points in the RAP decision-making process is overcoming institutional inertia and elevating the priority for remedial and preventive

Subject Headings: Lakes | Ecological restoration | Decision making | Water resources | Public opinion and participation | Historic preservation | Government buildings | Great Lakes | Canada | Ontario | United States

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