The Great Lakes - Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario - form the largest surface freshwater system on the Earth. More than 30 million people live in the Great Lakes basin, and the daily activities of these people, from the water consumed to the waste returned, directly affects the Great Lakes environments.

The United States and Canada both have jurisdiction over the Great Lakes Basin. Within the US, the EPA and nine other agencies together administer more than 140 different federal programs helping fund and implement environmental restoration and management activities in the Great Lakes basin. In addition, governance of the Great Lakes system is shared with eight U.S. states, nearly 40 Tribal Nations, more than half a dozen major metropolitan areas, and numerous county and local governments.

This site provides information about efforts to keep the lakes clean for the people, animals, and plants that depend on them.

Barrier protects Great Lakes from Asian carp Great Lakes Interagency Task Force On May 18, 2004, President Bush signed an Executive Order creating the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force. Under EPA's leadership, the Task Force brings together ten Agency and Cabinet officers to work on restoring the Great Lakes. In addition, the President directed the creation of a regional collaborative process. Speech to the International Association of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Mayors' Conference July 15 For more information, see the Task Force page.
Current Material	Great Lakes Topics
Intragency Task Force Asian Carp and the Great Lakes Atmospheric Loadings Report (PDF) FY2004-05 Funding Guidance Proposals FY 2004 - 2005 GL Legacy Act 2002 Niag. R. Tox Comm 1984 Sampling Procedures Quality Management LMMB PCB Report LMMB Mercury Report LMMB Atrazine Report Great Lakes Strategy 2002 Great Lakes Atlas Report Archives GreatLakesNews GLBTS Progress Report Lake Erie 'Dead Zone' Significant Activities Report	Areas of Concern (AOCs) Clean Water Act Contaminated Sediments Program Ecosystems Environmental Indicators Funding Program Great Lakes Atlas Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy (GLTBS) Great Lakes Ecosystem Report Human Health Program Invasive Species Lakewide Management Plans Monitoring Program Pollution Prevention & Toxic Reductions State-of-the-Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC) Visualizing the Great Lakes Photo Collection Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA)
Other Topics of Interest
About the Great Lakes Program Environmental Software Information Partners Landscaping with Native Plants (Greenacres) Native Vegetation Enhancement Project

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