Last month, I had the opportunity to participate in discussions around the release of the State of the Great Lakes (SOGL) Report. Sitting alongside scientists, federal agency representatives, community members, and regional partners at the Great Lakes Public Forum, I was reminded of something fundamental: the Great Lakes are resilient, but they are not invincible.
The State of the Great Lakes Report 2025 is a collaborative binational assessment by the United States and Canada under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA), which paints a picture of progress and persistent challenges for the water that sustains us, our communities, and our economies.
The report provides a valuable binational snapshot of ecosystem health and highlights important gains. It also reveals persistent gaps and, perhaps most importantly, raises questions about whether we are prepared for what lies ahead.
Trends in Great Lakes Indicators
Across the Great Lakes Basin, the report shows that the Great Lakes continue to be an excellent source of drinking water and that beaches remain safe for swimming and recreation throughout much of the season, affirming their immense value as natural resources for millions of people. But this progress did not happen by accident. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) has been one of the most effective federal investments in freshwater protection, accelerating cleanup in long-polluted Areas of Concern (AOC) and restoring habitat across the region.
Through coordinated and collaborative efforts, GLRI funding has supported contaminated sediment removal, wetland and shoreline restoration, and long-term monitoring that delivers measurable community and ecological benefits. The delisting of Muskegon Lake stands as a powerful example of what sustained commitment can achieve, transforming a once-degraded water body into a restored ecosystem that supports recreation, local economy, and wildlife vitality. As the Alliance advocates for GLRI reauthorization in 2026, these successes demonstrate that when we invest in science-based restoration and strong partnerships, we protect drinking water, strengthen communities, and move the Great Lakes from recovery toward long-term resilience.
Overall assessment: largely “fair” and “unchanging”
The overall assessment remains largely “fair” and “unchanging.” That tells a nuanced story. Some long-term efforts are working. Legacy toxic chemicals continue to decline in many areas. Certain habitat restoration initiatives have delivered measurable ecological improvements. New introductions of invasive species have slowed compared with previous decades.
But other trends are troubling. Nutrient pollution continues to drive harmful algal blooms, particularly in Lake Erie, threatening drinking water supplies, public health, fisheries, and local economies. What is especially concerning is that this pattern persists despite more than a decade of significant investment in voluntary best management practices. While voluntary programs have generated important partnerships and localized improvements, basin-wide nutrient reductions have not occurred at the scale or speed required to meet water quality targets. This reality reinforces the need for stronger, enforceable standards and accountability mechanisms alongside continued technical and financial support that is adapted and directed at incentivizing the practices that work best. If we are serious about protecting the Great Lakes, nutrient pollution must be addressed not only through incentives, but through clear regulatory frameworks that ensure measurable, basin-wide reductions.
Climate change
Climate change, now referred to as climate trends in the report, is amplifying hydrological extremes. Shoreline erosion, warming waters, drought periods, and habitat shifts are accelerating. Invasive species already established in the basin continue to reshape food webs. At the same time, real progress is being made through renewable energy investments, climate adaptation planning, wetland restoration, green infrastructure, and regional collaboration under frameworks like the Great Lakes Compact and GLRI. Yet this progress remains uneven and fragile, as climate impacts often outpace policy responses and funding stability, underscoring the need for sustained, science-based, and climate resilient water management across the basin.
More focus needed on wetlands
One area that deserves greater urgency and attention is wetlands. Wetlands are natural infrastructure. They filter pollutants, recharge groundwater, buffer floods, stabilize shorelines, and provide essential habitat for fish and wildlife. While the report recognizes habitat conditions, it does not fully capture the accelerating pressures on coastal and inland wetlands, including development, shoreline hardening, hydrologic alteration, and climate-driven water level fluctuations. At the same time, the likelihood that federal wetland protections will be weakened under ongoing changes to the Water of the United States (WOTUS) rule makes this moment even more consequential. As the scope of federal jurisdiction is reduced, wetlands that lack continuous surface connections, especially isolated and headwater wetlands, are increasingly excluded from Clean Water Act protection. This reality means states across the Great Lakes basin must step up to fill emerging regulatory gaps.
As we face more intense storms and fluctuating lake levels, wetlands are among our most effective and cost-efficient climate adaptation tools. Protecting and restoring them cannot remain optional or secondary. It must be central to the region’s next phase of action through science-based stronger-state level protections, clear regulatory standards, and sustained restoration investment.
Weakening science capacity and reducing staff
Strong science underpins sound water policy. Monitoring networks across the basin, tracking nutrients, contaminants, water levels, and ecosystem indicators, allow us to identify emerging threats and respond early. But monitoring capacity is only as strong as the institutions that support it. We are increasingly concerned about constraints on federal and state agency resources, threats to regulatory authorities, and reductions in scientific staffing. For example, the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) experienced significant staffing reductions in 2025, with independent reporting indicating that the laboratory has lost roughly 35% of its approximately 48 person workforce as key scientists, communication staff, and probationary employees were dismissed or left under pressure from federal hiring freezes. This loss has created serious gaps in harmful algal bloom monitoring and other core research functions. If scientific capacity erodes, early warning systems weaken. And when early warning systems weaken, communities pay the price.
The emerging threat of microplastics
The report provides a comprehensive overview of many indicators, but some emerging threats deserve deeper integration. Microplastics are now widespread across the basin, from open waters to drinking water sources. PFAS and other emerging contaminants pose long-term threats to public health, wildlife, and fisheries. While these issues are acknowledged in broader research discussions, they are not yet fully integrated into basin-wide condition assessments to the extent warranted. We cannot manage what we do not comprehensively measure.
Water infrastructure
Another critical dimension is water infrastructure. Although the report does not focus on these aspects of water quality, aging drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems shape water quality outcomes every day. Combined sewer overflows, failing pipes, and inequitable access to safe water and sewer service remain pressing challenges, impacting human health and well-being along with ecosystem health. Properly scoped, designed and implemented, water and sewer infrastructure is environmental protection, as well as public health protection and climate resilience.
Without sustained investment, equitable prioritization of infrastructure projects and equitable funding mechanisms, progress on ecosystem and human health will be limited.
How This Connects to the Alliance’s Work
At the Alliance for the Great Lakes, our work intersects directly with the trends identified in the SOGL report:
- The Alliance works to ensure sustainable water use across the basin by promoting and informing policies that protect Great Lakes water from excessive withdrawals and reduce the need for diversions to support large water users, such as data centers. For example, the Alliance engages in constant public, administrative agency, and lawmaker education regarding sustainable water management, coordinates and informs policy recommendations with in-state partners, participates in forums that promote water recycling and reuse, and is producing a forthcoming playbook for communities facing large water use proposals.
- The Alliance works to advance our belief that the Great Lakes are both a shared treasure and a shared responsibility. We work across the region to advance strong, science-based policies that protect water quality and quantity, prevent pollution, and promote sustainable use. For example, Alliance staff and partners met with Ohio lawmakers to provide education regarding solutions for safe and affordable water. The Alliance highlighted the need to address agricultural pollution, strengthen programs like H2Ohio, and accelerate lead service line replacement to protect public health and the Great Lakes. By engaging policymakers, community leaders, scientists, and advocates, we help ensure that decisions today safeguard clean, affordable, and resilient water resources for future generations.
- The Alliance is tracking emerging contaminants and elevating the issue of plastic pollution, which is now widespread throughout the Great Lakes, sediments, and even drinking water sources. We advocate for stronger federal and state policies to reduce plastic pollution at its source, including measures to prevent industrial plastic pellet spills, reduce microfiber release, and limit single-use- plastics. Through partnerships with scientists, utilities, and community organizations, the Alliance advances prevention, public education, and infrastructure solutions to keep plastics out of the Great Lakes.
- The Alliance is actively engaged in federal policy efforts aimed at expanding and improving water infrastructure funding to meet the basin’s needs. The Alliance advocates for Congress to fully fund water infrastructure programs and target resources to communities with the greatest needs, especially those historically underserved or grappling with affordability, lead service lines, aging systems, or failing wastewater plants. Our 2026 Federal Priorities include pressing for significant increases in water infrastructure investment and ensuring these funds are distributed equitably.
- At the Alliance, strengthening the science to policy engine is central to our mission. We work to ensure that the best available data, from water monitoring, emerging contaminant research, nutrient loading trends, and water use analysis, directly informs policy at the state and federal levels. That means translating complex science into clear policy recommendations, advocating and making the case for enforceable standards where voluntary approaches fall short, and defending the institutional capacity of administrative agencies responsible for protecting our water. By connecting research, regulatory frameworks, and community priorities, the Alliance helps move science out of reports and into real-world protections that safeguard drinking water, ecosystems and the long-term resilience of the Great Lakes
Looking forward
The report affirms that these priorities are not abstract. They are essential to the region’s stability. Perhaps the most important question is not where we stand today, but whether the region is positioned to meet the next three years of challenges.
Although SOGL no longer uses the terminology of climate change, we know that changes in physical conditions (as it is now described) are increasing. Development pressures continue. Industrial water demand is growing. Emerging contaminants are expanding faster than regulatory frameworks. If scientific capacity is weakened, if regulatory authorities are constrained, or if environmental protections are rolled back, the progress documented in the report could stall or reverse. The Great Lakes require consistent stewardship, not episodic attention.
Participating in the State of the Great Lakes discussions reinforced both my optimism and my urgency. The Great Lakes Basin has a strong foundation of binational cooperation. Decades of cleanup efforts have delivered measurable results. Community leadership is rising. But resilience is not automatic. It must be built through science, policy, infrastructure, and public engagement. The Great Lakes are resilient waters. Our institutions must be just as resilient. The work ahead demands that we act with ambition recognizing that protecting the largest freshwater system on Earth is not a one-time achievement but a continuous responsibility.