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Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS) UPDATE
Feb. 21, 2007

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Congress enacts year-long Continuing Resolution for FY 2007; President releases FY 2008 budget

Exact appropriations levels for FY 07 are still uncertain, with the recent passage of a year-long continuing resolution directing agencies to expend at the prior year level, without specific earmarks. On Feb. 5, President Bush announced the Administration's FY 08 budget. The budget for NOAA provides $3.815B which is a $131M increase over last year's budget proposal. While this budget proposal is a decrease from the FY 06 enacted levels, it is encouraging to see the budget request for NOAA increasing in these tight financial times. The increase in funds is aimed at implementing the U.S. Ocean Action Plan and allocated in three ways: $38M to protect and restore marine and coastal areas; $25M to ensure sustainable use of ocean resources; and $60M to advance ocean science and research. More specifically, $14M in new funds are proposed for the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) and $11.5M for the Regional Associations of IOOS. The budget request also includes $54.9M for the National Sea Grant program and $19.8M for the Coastal Services Center.


Ocean Research Priority Plan released

In order to help identify the most important research challenges and opportunities and to develop a coordinated response strategy, the President's Ocean Action Plan called for the National Science and Technology Council's Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (JSOST) to prepare an Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy, using a transparent process that included input from the ocean research community. The National Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy presents research priorities that focus on the most compelling issues in key areas of interaction between society and the ocean, coasts and Great Lakes. This document also provides guidance on how the various ocean science sectors (government, academia, industry and non-government entities) can and should be engaged, individually or through partnerships, to address the areas of greatest research priority and opportunity. The Strategy was developed by the JSOST using input generated from a public workshop held in April 2006 and a public comment period. For more information visit http://ocean.ceq.gov/about/sup_jsost_prioritiesplan.html

Digital Coast: Legislative atlas now available

The nation's coastal resource managers have a new tool to help them better understand the complex aspects of legislation and policy that govern coastal and marine resources. The Digital Coast: Legislative Atlas Web site, developed by the NOAA Coastal Services Center, offers a searchable database of coastal and ocean legislation at the federal and state levels. In addition, online mapping capability is provided to allow for the visualization and simple analysis of "georegulations" - spatial representations of federal and state legislation and jurisdictional boundaries. The project currently does not cover the Great Lakes and no plans exist to extend this product over the next year. Visit the Digital Coast: Legislative Atlas at http://www.csc.noaa.gov/legislativeatlas

Congress resurrecting WRDA Bill

Key lawmakers in the House and Senate are planning passage of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) early in this session of Congress. WRDA has key sections that could beneficially affect observing, monitoring and reporting systems across the region, including focus on hydrologic impacts of groundwater, instream and open-lake withdrawals of waters on biological productivity, support of information systems for Areas of Concern, engineering analysis of dam withdrawals on watershed dynamics and implementing key facets of the Lake St. Clair Management Plan, including implementation of continuous hydrodynamic modeling in the lakes Huron to Erie corridor.

Upcoming Events
Great Lakes Day in Washington, March 7, 2007, Washington, D.C.
Space limited; register by Feb. 23! This annual event features presentations and dialogue on Great Lakes priorities by regional leaders and members of Congress. Co-sponsored by the Great Lakes Commission and the Northeast-Midwest Institute. The Great Lakes Commission will be coordinating office visits along with the Great Lakes Congressional Task Force, Great Lakes State Offices in Washington, Northeast-Midwest Institute and the Healing Our Waters Coalition. This coordination and other preparatory sessions will take place on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 6.

Best Education / Outreach Practices from Observing Systems: Applications to the Great Lakes and the Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS), April 10-11, 2007, Traverse City, Mich.
This symposium, sponsored by the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network, will set the stage for further strategic planning for GLOS education and outreach efforts and should be a major effort toward furthering GLOS in 2007 and beyond. Video and audio of the presentations will be captured and shared across the eight Great Lakes states in locally hosted forums by Sea Grant Extension personnel.

Annual Meeting of the Great Lakes Observing System, April 12-13, 2007, Niagara Falls area, location TBA.
This is an open meeting for the GLOS user community and Board to discuss GLOS priorities and hear reports from the subsystem teams, which include Open Water, Science Vessels, Interconnecting Waterways, Nearshore, Remote Sensing, Atmospheric, Modeling and Ecological Forecasting, Information Integration, and Education and Outreach.

14th Annual International Conference on the St. Lawrence River Ecosystem, May 15-17, 2007, NAV Canada Training Institute & Conference Centre, Cornwall, Ontario Canada
The conference will highlight the importance of tributaries and wetlands including their influences on water quality and critical roles as unique habitats. Hosted by the St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences, the University of Ottawa and the Ontario Clean Water Agency/Ontario Research Water Works Research Consortium.

50th Annual IAGLR Conference on Great Lakes Research, May 28-June 1, 2007, Penn State University, University Park, Pa.
The conference will recognize the history of research on the Great Lakes and our present state of knowledge, as well as take a look into the future of how the organization can address the complex limnological and management issues that lay ahead. A GLOS session is planned.


>> More GLOS-related events: www.glos.us/about/events.php
>> More IOOS-related events: www.ocean.us/event

This Update is prepared by the GLOS secretariat as a service to the GLOS Board of Directors, Regional Interest Group and all other interested parties. Refer to www.glos.us for more information on GLOS activities and milestones.