Trump's budget eliminates money for Great Lakes restoration

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Trump administration on Tuesday proposed eliminating funding for a popular program in the Great Lakes region that has funded environmental restoration projects for the world's largest freshwater system.

Trump's 2018 budget, which sharply pared funding of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, made official what had been expected: The president eliminated funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which has provided $2.2 billion since 2010.

The sun rises near the Milwaukee Pierhead Lighthouse off the shores of Lake Michigan.

The budget mirrored the cuts for the Great Lakes proposed in March. The fight now shifts to Congress where Great Lakes states representatives, including some Republicans as well as Democrats, are expected to champion the program.

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The money has been used in Wisconsin and other Great Lakes states to clean up toxic waste, control the spread of invasive species, restore habitat and make other improvements in the near-shore health of the lakes.

A technician holds a sea lamprey, an invasive species.

One high-profile project is the construction of electronic barriers in the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal in Illinois to stop the spread of invasive Asian carp to the Great Lakes.

Money has also been used to help pay for the cleanup of toxic pollutants from Lincoln Creek and Milwaukee River in Lincoln Park, the Blatz Pavilion and an area above the Estabrook Dam.

In late March, the EPA and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said that new areas of toxic pollution had been identified in the Milwaukee River, south of the dam, which could lead to a second big cleanup between the dam and North Ave.

But a potential loss of Great Lakes dollars would slow the next phase of the cleanup since the project has relied entirely on public funds. Regulators expect private parties to pay their share of a cleanup, but in the case of the Milwaukee River, no such parties have been identified.

The White House Office of Management and Budget eliminated $427 million from fiscal 2017 for the Great Lakes and other regional water initiatives, including Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound. "State and local groups are engaged and capable of taking on management of clean-up and restoration of these water bodies," the agency said in budget documents.

The cuts will face push-back.

"We’re counting on Congress to deliver for the Great Lakes to make sure the nation continues to make investments that protect our drinking water, jobs, and way of life," said Todd Ambs, campaign director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, in a statement.

Gov. Scott Walker has also been critical of Trump's plans for the Great Lakes. He told reporters in March in Milwaukee that he would be contacting the administration and Republicans in Congress to "protect funding that’s prudent" for the Great Lakes.

Tom Evenson, Walker's spokesman, said Tuesday that Walker's position has not changed.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, has been critical of the cuts, while Republican Sen. Ron Johnson has been more circumspect about Great Lakes funding.

In a statement, Johnson said of Trump's budget that "there are no easy solutions, but at the very least the president’s budget recognizes that for far too long we as a country have spent beyond our means."