Overview:

- Issues like Lake Erie algal blooms, Great Lakes ice cover, and invasive species are not being monitored as closely as they were a year ago, writes Mike Shriberg.
- People, communities, and natural resources are vulnerable in a way that we haven't seen since before major environmental laws were passed more than a half-century ago, he says.
- "While fighting tirelessly day after day to keep science and protections intact, Great Lakes advocates are starting to envision a different future, one in which our federal leadership values clean water, people, and communities."

Is there opportunity in chaos and destruction? That’s what much of the Great Lakes community is beginning to think about amid unprecedented, unrelenting attacks on clean water one year into the Trump administration. 

There is no way to sugarcoat what’s happening to clean water protections, funding, staffing, and programs at the federal level. The Clean Water Act has been undermined, federal agencies and the people that run them have been viciously and indiscriminately cut, and scientific research and funding for local communities has been stymied. 

In just one example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL), based in Ann Arbor, has lost approximately 35% of its staff over the last year, a former employee told the Detroit Free Press. 

What this means is that we are not monitoring harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie, ice cover on the Great Lakes, invasive species, flooding, and other critical issues for people, communities, and wildlife as closely as we were a year ago. And the public is not being adequately informed about hazards in the Great Lakes since there are no communications staff left after the cutbacks. 

The impacts from GLERL and countless other cutbacks are substantial, leaving people, communities, and natural resources vulnerable in a way that we haven’t seen since before our major environmental laws were passed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. That’s the unfortunate, troubling reality as we enter 2026. 

While fighting tirelessly day after day to keep science and protections intact, Great Lakes advocates are starting to envision a different future, one in which our federal leadership values clean water, people, and communities. 

In this future, we have an opportunity to reinvent how we steward and manage our Great Lakes. The system we have today evolved over the last 100-plus years, driven more by politics, issues of the day, and institutional inertia rather than a strategic perspective on how to effectively govern 20% of the world’s available surface freshwater. 

We collectively can use this time of destruction to be ready for a reinvention by following at least three core principles:

• Deep collaboration for resilience: The Great Lakes are a dynamic ecosystem that is now being pushed in unprecedented ways by invasive species, climate change, and changes in human water consumption, among other key factors. The only way to manage these ever-changing conditions is through deep collaboration, beginning at the local level and moving through all levels of government and stakeholders, including, most importantly, with the Indigenous governments and peoples of the region. No one entity will have all the solutions, although Indigenous communities have the experience and knowledge of millennia of successful stewardship. The best approach is pulling from the brainpower and diversity of the multitudes.

• Complementary authorities: The Great Lakes are unique in their reach and scope, crossing local, state, tribal, and international borders. There is no entity “in charge,” which is a strength and a weakness. While the region has been known for mostly harmonious relationships, the Trump administration has strained many of these interactions, including between the U.S. and Canada. This reshuffling and ultimate rebuilding may allow for the opportunity for a clearer set of authorities and jurisdictions that are distinct, yet efficient, complementary, and effective.

• Accountability: To implement a new way of thinking and acting collectively, we will need to hold our decision makers accountable. Every politician wants the coveted title of “Great Lakes Champion.” But this designation should only be bestowed on those who are willing to stand up for our region’s core values and institutions, even when it’s politically difficult.

It’s not fair that we have to collectively both fight a rearguard battle against federal backsliding on clean water while also envisioning and beginning to plan for a better future for the Great Lakes. 

But I have confidence that we can do this because we collectively care so deeply about the Great Lakes and our water, and we have experiences to draw from.

For example, the idea for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative — the highly effective federal cleanup effort — was created nearly 20 years ago, at a time when new threats were rising in the Great Lakes, past pollution remained stubbornly in place, and many thought the federal response was inadequate at best.

It is now a nearly untouchable program politically, with strong bipartisan support and a track record of success. That’s because the Great Lakes are the great uniters of the region.  And they need all of us to stand up for them now as we envision and work to enact a better future.

Planet Detroit’s Voices column includes opinion pieces from our community of partners and readers. These pieces express the voices of the authors and not necessarily those of the publication.

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Mike Shriberg, Ph.D., is a Great Lakes policy expert, serving as a professor of practice and engagement at the University of Michigan's School for Environment and Sustainability and the director of the University of Michigan Water Center.