State of the Waters Report - 2002: Joint Commitment

We are fortunate to live in a Region abundant with water resources totaling over 350,000 miles of rivers and streams and 5,800,000 lake acres, and stretching across the incredibly beautiful and diverse Great Lakes, Upper Mississippi River, Ohio River, Missouri River, and Red River Basins. These unique resources provide us with water for drinking, recreation, commerce, and agricultural production. Region 5’s protection and enhancement of water quality takes many forms and involves many partners, including collaboration with the States of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin, as well as 35 Federally recognized Tribes and other federal agencies. Most importantly, however, the key to improving our rivers, lakes and wetlands comes from the actions of individuals like you.

In 2002, our nation will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act – the national statute which provides the authority for EPA and State surface water programs. While EPA and State agencies have accomplished much over the past three decades to ensure clean and safe water for the American public, there is more to be done to protect and improve the environment. The States and EPA are committed to building on these achievements through our strong federal/state partnerships and reporting on the progress we make. We are also committed to updating the citizens of Region 5 on our work to protect and improve the quality of water resources.

Over the past year, EPA’s Region 5 Water Program and seven State Environmental and Public Health Agencies developed a set of five shared environmental goals to enhance our joint efforts to protect and restore our valuable water resources and measure accomplishments. These shared water goals are:

Our efforts to establish a framework for reporting on environmental improvements is continuing. This year, we will reach agreement on a set of shorter-term milestones that we will use to chart progress against the five goals. This first State of the Waters report presents environmental information organized around the five goals and documents what we know now about the overall quality of the waters in Region 5. In future reports, we will track progress against the specific targets and more specifically detail our efforts to achieve each goal.

In signing this report, the States and EPA are reaffirming our commitment to improving water quality and reporting on our efforts to the public. We hope you find the information in this report useful and insightful and that the successes described inspire you to take up the challenge of protecting and enhancing the environment with us.