Indicators and Information

Council of Great Lakes Governor´s Priority:
"Standardize and enhance the methods by which information is collected, recorded and shared within the region."

The ability to address whether we are reaching our goal to "Restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem", is in large part dependant upon good, readily available data. According to the United States General Accounting Office (GAO), "there are 148 federal and 51 state programs funding environmental restoration activities in the Great Lakes". Yet often data collection and data storage is done independent of other programs and without an overarching plan to manage data, it is difficult to acquire and use across jurisdictional boundaries.

The State of the Lake Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC) began a process of developing a consistent, easily understood suite of indicators that will objectively represent the state of major ecosystem components across the Great Lakes basin. An indicator can be thought of as pieces of evidence that help us assess the condition of something of interest. This is a critical first step in providing a comprehensive assessment of the Great Lakes ecosystem.

For more information on Great Lakes Indicators and Information visit these sites:

• DRAFT Wisconsin Great Lakes Strategy
• Great Lakes Regional Collaboration - Indicators and Information Strategy Team [exit DNR]
• State of the Lake Ecosystem Conference [exit DNR]
• U.S. EPA Great Lakes Monitoring [exit DNR]