Governor Rick Snyder’s administration has released a first draft of a 30-year strategy for protecting and improving the state’s water resources.
The plan says there are environmental and economic benefits to protecting and improving lakes, rivers, and streams. The plan includes connecting waterways to promote tourism. Also, fixing outdated sewer and drinking water systems.
“There are assets I think the rest of the world would die to have, and we have them,” says Jon Allan, director of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes. “We just need to tend to them thoughtfully.”
Allan says there’s a more-immediate need for the state also needs to tackle invasive species, and algae and bacteria blooms in Lake Erie that are caused by phosphorous.
But the plan still doesn’t identify a way to pay for it. Allan says he hopes to be able to present a funding plan next year.
