Charting the Lakes’ future

By Beth Leblanc Port Huron Times Herald Oct 22, 2012 

An international research project will examine the factors affecting the Great Lakes Basin during the past 50 years — and make predictions about the next 50.

The Transborder Research University Network for Water Stewardship launched the Great Lakes Futures Project with the support of 21 research organizations in the United States and Canada.

Katrina Laurent, post-doctoral associate at Western University in London, Ontario, and project manager for the Great Lakes Future Project, said the project originated with concerns about the future governance of the Great Lakes.

About 20 graduate and undergraduate students will work with mentors to analyze how different drivers have affected the Great Lakes in the past 50 years and make predictions about what to expect in the next 50.

“The support we’ve had for this project has been incredible,” Laurent said. “It’s going very smoothly, considering the number of people involved.”

The drivers the project is analyzing include climate change, economy, biological and chemical contaminants, invasive species, demographics, societal values, governance, geopolitics, energy and water quantity.

“It will create a context to evaluate current and future policy decisions,” Laurent said.

Canadian scientist Irena Creed from Western University is leading the project along with Gail Krantzberg from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Kathryn Friedman from SUNY at Buffalo and Don Scavia from the University of Michigan.

Krantzberg, professor and director of the Center for Engineering and Public Policy at McMaster University, said the project has about an 18-month timeline.

Research about the drivers will finish in December. Students will present their research at a workshop in January, where the two most important drivers will be identified.

Researchers will then develop predictions, academic publications, presentations in schools and communities, and papers that will propose policy strategy to businesses and government.

“What we’re doing is looking at potential societal, economic and environmental pressures that might drive the development of the Great Lakes,” she said.

Krantzberg said items the research might examine in the Blue Water Area include lower lake levels and how to make collaborative decisions when it comes to governance of the water.

“There are many ways that this project will make an impact on the Great Lakes as a whole and have resonance on a local scale as well,” she said.

Krantzberg said the project should finish by spring 2014.