The Catch featured the Great Lakes Now Collaborative ongoing series, “Refresh.” Great Lakes Now student journalist Jada Vasser took a look at the Great Lakes Critical Programs Act of 1990 and the impact it has had on the lakes.
The legislation gave the Great Lakes region specific standards of water quality that needed to be met in order for the lakes to be used for things like fishing, recreation and more. Prior to the passage of the 1990 legislation, access had been significantly reduced because of the poor water quality and pollution in the water. Using some of the same ideas listed in the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978, it forced the U.S. and Canada to come together to create terms they would uphold to continue to enforce higher standards of water quality.
“Having the Great Lakes Critical Act for the people that live in the Great Lakes states is super important because now we can use these lakes for numerous things … Before the Clean Water Act was actually named, the Clean Water Act, the Great Lakes were just kind of ignored, I would say. We didn’t really have specific things that we needed to regulate on,” Vasser said.
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Amendment to Clean Water Act improves Great Lakes through critical observation, collaboration
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Featured image: The Great Lakes Critical Programs Act of 1990 gave the region specific standards of water quality that needed to be met in order for the lakes to be used for things like fishing, recreation and more. (Photo Credit: GLN)
