I am currently working as a Great Lakes Program Specialist for the USGS as part of my Knauss Fellowship. Throughout this fellowship, I have been learning more about the Great Lakes, which has been a change of pace from my background in marine fisheries. My favorite fact has been that the coastline of the Great Lakes exceeds the length of the coastlines of the contiguous Atlantic and Pacific salt coasts. However, it seems that there is still a shortage of knowledge or policy surrounding the Great Lakes, at least in comparison to the investment that exists for the marine coastline. In late May, I had the opportunity to go to the Great Lakes Commission meeting in Chicago where I was able to hear directly from stakeholders and representatives from Great Lakes states about the issues surrounding the Great Lakes ecosystems.
The first day I participated in a field trip going to three coastal restoration sites along Lake Michigan. Our first stop was Burnam Park, which is part of a 9-mile storm damage reduction project by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) where they are hardening shoreline to help lower wave energy and prevent flooding. This particular area was concrete steps with a sawtooth edge. This project also provided recreation space and accessibility to the water.
Lake wall (S Marriott)
The next location was at a residential community next to Rainbow Beach on 75th Street. Rainbow Beach has been a recreation site for over 100 years. Here we were met by a representative from an environmental consulting firm and a local community member who said she has lived in this beach-front building for 45 years. She was partnering with this firm to find nature-based solutions to saving her home, which had its foundations being lapped by the lake.
Rainbow Beach Apartments circa November 2009 (Google Street View; Left) and May 2023 (S Marriott; Right)
She spoke passionately about how this community was a former resort community, with great beach access, but now the spray from winter storms can sometimes reach the top of their building, causing immense damage. Back in 1954, there was a major seiche, where the water in the lake oscillates from one side of the lake to another creating a large wave (similar to how water moves in a bathtub), which killed several people. In 2019, another seiche occurred, creating 12 foot waves and battering Chicago. Climate change has been increasing rainfall and snowmelt that in turn, increases the water-levels in the lakes, which will further the impacts on people who live near the coastline.The people who live here do not have time to be 'resilient' because the next storm is around the corner.
Something that stood out to me, was that she essentially described her building as essential infrastructure, a breakwater, being the first line of defense against a raging Lake Michigan, blocking the water from flooding and damaging the major highway and higher value homes behind them. This was simultaneously brilliant messaging, because it placed a higher value on this building, but also incredibly sad because these community members are worthy of protection themselves. Some of the people along this field trip whispered about how it was maybe time for managed retreat. While there is certainly a place for managed retreat in coastal resilience/adaptation plans, that sentiment in this occasion bothered me. We had just visited a project where we discussed at length with the USACE what the environmental justice issues were and how the Corps wants to address the discrepancies and injustice along the coastline.The USACE poured $500M of concrete in front of parkland for recreation and to protect the road in order to keep the coastline accessible for residents, but now we are facing an environmental justice issue head on, and the first solution in people's minds was to displace these residents. Managed retreat is a real option and necessary in many cases, but we need to meet people where they are and put all options on the table and let these solutions be community driven.
The final location we went to was a habitat connectivity restoration site, where partners built a conduit for water to flow from Wolf Lake to Powderhorn Lake, with parts of it running under roads and some through restored wetlands. While learning about how this project will improve fisheries, bird habitat, reduce flooding, and restore wetlands, a chunky snapping turtle swam by demonstrating the utility of this new creek. Redwing blackbirds fluttered about the tall grasses, and I spotted a pair of mute swans in the distance enjoying the hot spring day in south Chicago. This site is a prime example of a successful restoration project, not just for the habitat, but for the community that it is adjacent to. One of the partners said, “We designed a solution that saves the birds and reduces flooding of nearby homes?! Yes!”
Snapping turtle (left) and restored wetland (right) (S Marriott)
This trip taught me a lot about a selection of the coastal issues on the Great Lakes and continued to drive home the idea that partnership is key to moving projects forward to solve these complex environmental problems.