Urban Development in the Great Lakes Basin: What is the Federal Role in Regional Land Use Planning related to

"In 1978, the International Joint Commission, a bilateral commission charged with overseeing this critical Canadian and American resource, first looked at urbanization and its impact on the Great Lakes through the Pollution from Land-Use Activities Reference Group (PLUARG).  Since PLUARG, studies have continued to identify urban land-use development as a major source of stress to the Great Lakes ecosystem.  While land use and growth management decisions in both countries are made largely at the local level, the impacts of local decisions are regional and international in effect.  The question that must be answered in this area of international concern is "What role can the federal government play in local land use planning?"  Given an international agreement on management of resources critical to both Canada and the United States, how can the US government implement the agreement in what is, in US practice, largely a local issue?  Much has been done in response to the environmental problems associated with urbanization in the Great Lakes basin and beyond. Many local, regional and state/provincial governments have embraced tools such as watershed planning, urban growth boundaries and conservation design within Areas of Concern and elsewhere. Smart Growth initiatives, sponsored by a number of U.S. states and Canadian provinces, have accomplished a great deal with respect to educating decision-makers and the general public about urban growth and its impacts on environmental features such as the Great Lakes. However, urban sprawl continues to increase and the water quality of the Great Lakes continues to decrease.  The objectives of this paper are two fold:  first, the paper will present a summary analysis of the most current data on effective land use practices currently being used to protect water quality and those practices that pose significant potential for improving water quality results.  This analysis will include inter-governmental structures for watershed management, and market-based approaches such as auditing, fees, and tradeable permits.  Secondly, the paper will analyze the ability of the federal and state governments to influence the application of promising practices by local governments.  This analysis of responses in the Great Lakes Basin has significant implications for regional and transboundary land planning issues in our increasingly global community." [Abstract from Conference Program and Book of Abstracts]

[Concurrent Session I-G: Water Quality]

[Presented at "Emerging Issues Along Urban/Rural Interfaces: Linking Science and Society", a conference held March 13-16, 2005 in Atlanta, GA (US)]