Changes to the Great Lakes, fish and wildlife, natural resources and communities may occur due to projected future conditions such as extreme heat, more frequent droughts, warmer winters, declining lake ice extent and duration, rising water temperatures, and flooding. These stressors may cause damage to infrastructure and habitats, increased sediment and nutrient delivery to waters, increased harmful algal blooms, reduced beach health, increased pressure from non-native species and loss of culturally significant resources and recreational opportunities for communities.
Under Action Plan IV, consideration of projected future conditions by agencies, Tribal Nations and other entities will be emphasized during the design and implementation of the next phase of GLRI projects. Future GLRI investments will 1) consider, as appropriate, future projected conditions into project planning and implementation and 2) protect and sustainably manage lands and water that provide benefits to our communities.
Approaches for GLRI Projects
Considering future projected conditions will increase the capacity of the environment to adapt, or take advantage of opportunities resulting from future conditions. These approaches also reduce the vulnerability of the environment to multiple stressors.
GLRI federal agencies and partners will evaluate approaches that increase the capacity of the environment to adapt or take advantage of opportunities resulting from future projected conditions. These approaches also reduce the vulnerability of the environment to multiple stressors. GLRI projects will also consider these other approaches for future investments including:
- Vulnerability assessments that identify the greatest risks to species, habitat, working lands, infrastructure, communities or ecosystems from the impacts of multiple stressors.
- Adjustment of project designs and plans to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. This approach may be "incremental," "transformative" or a "piloting" of innovative project features.
Finally, GLRI projects may include one or more of the following options:
Resistance: Actions that improve the defenses of a site or system against anticipated changes or directly defend against disturbance to maintain relatively unchanged conditions.
Resilience: Actions that increase the capacity of connected social, economic and ecological systems to cope with projected future conditions, responding or reorganizing in ways that maintain their essential function, identity and structure. For GLRI, this would include communities, working lands, species or populations, adapting to changing conditions and withstanding and recovering from adverse conditions.
Transition: Adjustment to projected future conditions and their effects. Actions or behaviors that reduce losses or enhance benefits of natural variations in extreme weather events.
Continue reading about the Action Plan IV: