More than 80 Mayors from Great Lakes communities on both sides of the Canada-US border are discussing several concerns at their annual conference in Niagara Falls.
One of the top issues on the agenda is increasing the amount of money going toward cleanup of the Lakes.
Goderich Mayor Deb Shewfelt tells us Washington is spending nearly 200 million dollars less on Great Lakes cleanup this year than in 2010.
Ottawa committed 50 million dollars to cleanup efforts in the Lakes and 15 million to rehabilitating the St. Lawrence River last year.
The 475 million dollars committed by the U-S last year was mainly for environmental solutions that would clean the Lakes naturally.
Shewfelt says two aspects of cleansing the Lakes top the list of solutions.
The Mayors are calling for more tree-planting along the shores of the Lakes and the St. Lawrence to help filter water runoff from rain and snow-melt.
He says storm-water runoff is one of the largest problems Great Lakes communities face.
Shewfelt says there’s also a lot of talk about controlling the Asian carp.
The fish have made it northward through the Mississippi River system as far as the Chicago Ship Channel which is just a few kilometres from Lake Michigan.
Shewfelt predicts the end of commercial and sport fishing in the Great Lakes if the carp enter and multiply because they would deprive native aquatic species of food.
