160 



Watei- Resources Council and the Interstate Conference on Water Problems are 

 to be congratulated for arranging such a conference. It will be a stimulating 

 opportunity. 



I will cer'tainly not presume to stand before you to discuss with finality a 

 subject of such vastness as the sea, whose very size and importance to mankind 

 is awesome. 



As vice chairman of the Great Lakes Basin Commission, I am afforded a rare 

 partnership with seven other Great Lakes states. As their representative, I must 

 report that time has not permitted the states to give adequate review, nor to 

 develop a consensus of ideas, opinions, or comments on the report. However, 

 because of the general structure and purpose of the Great Lakes Basin Com- 

 mission, I can look at the report as it concerns that relationship. 



"Our Nation and the Sea" is a .stimulating report. It is excellent. It is well 

 written, and it certainly has broad coverage. Because this subject is so vital to 

 all of us. I would hope that the report might be condensed, embellished with 

 further illustrations, and printed into a low-cost paperback edition for more 

 widespread distribution. Because, to do something about a problem, people have 

 to understand it, discuss it, mold it, and then do something about it. Communica- 

 tion, then, is very important. 



As I read the report, it quite obviously deals with two major water areas— 

 the oceans and the Great Lakes. So much of the original intent of the marine 

 study was pointed toward the oceans, that the major study and its proposals 

 are significantly aimed at them. Fitting such a concept equally to the Great 

 Lakes, where the geographic, physical, political, and institutional arrangements 

 aie so sharply different, will bring the total report under fuller scrutiny and 

 dfbate. 



The Great Lakes shorelines (U.S. portion) represent about one tenth of the 

 nation's shorelines. However, the Midwest region which these shorelines serve, 

 has about 4% of U.S. area, 17% of the population, and produces close to half 

 the nation's taxes. 



The coastal zone is a seaward and a landward area. The seaward area includes 

 such activities as fisheries, pollution abatement, aquaculture, oil and mineral ex- 

 ploration, and navigation. The landward area includes shoreline development, 

 shore erosion, recreation uses, watershed and stream systems contributing to 

 water levels and pollution. Under this definition of the coastal zone as touched in 

 this report, you can begin to appreciate the magnitude of the report and its im- 

 plication in reference to planning, regulation, management, and development, of 

 what is described as a coastal line resource. The coastal zone for the Ohio i)or- 

 tion of Lake Erie, for example, would vary from 30 miles to 100 miles, and cover 

 about one third of the state. The report recommends the establishment of coastal 

 zone authorities for the purpose of planning, regulating, acquiring and developing. 



These are familiar words to all of us. These same functions are also placed in 

 numerous state and federal agencies, as well as in local governments. A new 

 overlapping coastal zone authority in any area couldn't easily superimpose 

 itself over all other entities without multiplying the confusion. 



The Marine Commission has recognized in first priority the need for ctirbing 

 the inflow of pollutants into the Great Lakes by stringent enforcement and ac- 

 celerated expenditures for waste treatment facilities. However, it goes on to 

 point out that it is important to vigorously explore for new methods of feasibility 

 in restoring the quality of some of the nation's most seriously damaged waters. 

 In recognizing the very great degree of pollution, the commission also pointed 

 tip a need for careful analysis which must precede financial commitment of such 

 great magnitude. It was therefore concluded that because of the national im- 

 portance of the Great Lakes, a National Project be created to assess the feasibility 

 of restoration techniques of such a program for one of the lakes. In view of the 

 voluminous headlines and concern about the pollution of Lake Erie, I would cer- 

 tainly be the first to nominate Lake Erie for such a national project as proposed 

 by the Marine Commission. However, no less recognized authorities than the 

 International Joint Commission and Federal Water Pollution Control Admin- 

 istration have already made studies in depth of the pollution problems of the 

 Great Lakes, and the programs recommended in them need to be implemented. 



What we have is a great deficiency of federal funds to implement existing pro- 

 grams and plans. There has been great lip service — very little cash. 



We also need a well directed crash program of research to find bold and imag- 

 inative low cost ways to clean up pollution. 



As I read "Our Nation and the Sea," I was reminded of the very pleasant 



