U.S. Senators Rob Portman, co-Chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, and Task Force member Sherrod Brown, sent a letter to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget as well as the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army Corps requesting funding for a Great Lakes coastal resiliency study in the President’s FY 2019 budget request.
Great Lakes Task Force co-Chair Debbie Stabenow, Vice Chair Amy Klobuchar and members Tammy Baldwin, Dick Durbin, Bob Casey, Tammy Duckworth, Kirsten Gillibrand, Chuck Schumer, Tina Smith, and Gary Peters also signed the letter.
“ The Great Lakes coastline faces numerous threats, such as lake level fluctuations, erosion, flooding, nutrient runoff, and aging infrastructure. It is important to ensure that the Great Lakes’ 5,200-mile coastline is protected, as 4.2 million people live within two miles of a Great Lakes coastline. The coastline is also imperative to a robust economy and tourism industry in the Great Lakes, as it includes 60 commercial harbors moving over 123 million tons of cargo annually ,” wrote the Senators .
“ We appreciate the Corps’ consultation with the Great Lakes states in proposing this study, as we fully intend for this study to be used to implement projects that will result in a more resilient coastline throughout the Great Lakes and a more strategic expenditure of state and federal funds.”
“ The Great Lakes Commission knows that only by working together can the states, the federal government and local communities best protect our 5,200-mile coastline. That’s why a comprehensive Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study, developed alongside the states, is necessary ,” said John Linc Stine, chair of the Great Lakes Commission and Commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency .
A PDF of the letter can be found here .