Review of THE DEATH AND LIFE OF THE GREAT LAKES
The ecological mismanagement of the Great Lakes
I’m a native Michigander. I grew up by Lake St. Clair. I’ve spent countless trips enjoying the shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. And have spent my life enjoying the privilege of having easy access to the greatest lakes on our planet – Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Superior – which collectively hold 20% of the earth’s fresh water.
And, I’ll be honest. I had no clue what the hell was happening with them ecologically until reading this book.
Ecologically speaking, I knew that there were animals called zebra muscles everywhere in the lakes, requiring the wearing of water shoes to avoid cutting your feet. And I knew Lake St. Clair was often closed to swimming due to e coli levels. And that was honestly about it. I feel quite ignorant in retrospect having lived mere blocks from the water for 20 years.
But in The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, Dan Egan shares the terrifying reality of the ecological catastrophe that has been afflicting the Great Lakes, especially since the front and back “doors” to the lakes were opened in the 20th century.
The Great Lakes basin is a water shed that connects only to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. All the water that falls in the basin boundaries flows into the lakes, which is essentially a massive west to east ‘river’ system starting at Lake Superior, through Lakes Michigan and Huron (technically one giant lake), through Lake Erie, over Niagara Falls and into Lake Ontario before being deposited in the Atlantic. Niagara Falls created a natural barrier to the Atlantic Ocean that invasive species could not overcome. Until, that is, humans opened the “front door”.
Hoping to make the Great Lakes a major global port, a series of locks were constructed to get ships up the Saint Lawrence River, past Niagara Falls, and to ports as far as Chicago. But doing so let in more than goods. Ships carry ballast water from other freshwater ports to help balance their load as good are offloaded. Then that water is dumped in the Great Lakes, bringing with in countless invasive species, like zebra muscles that wreak havoc on the natural ecosystem.
The “back door” was opened when the Chicago canal was constructed to feed wastewater from Chicago down the Mississippi River, rather than into Lake Michigan where it naturally flows. The consequence is another opening for species from the Mississippi River basin to invade the Lakes.
These two decisions have caused a snowball effect of other decisions to fix the ecological catastrophes and tame the some 180+ counted invasive species that have ruined the natural ecosystem of the Great Lakes that had been evolving for the last 10,000 years. And the result was a “fourth seacoast” and global port that never lived up to its vision.
Egan’s book is absolutely phenomenal. Expertly written with immense detail. And he clearly conveys the truly alarming impacts of poor ecological decisions on the water systems of the United States that reach far beyond the Great Lakes. A must read for environmentally conscious folks.
Published: March 2017
Format: Paperback
If you think this sounds interesting, bookmark these other great reads:
Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America by Megan Nelson (2022)
When the Sahara Was Green: How Our Greatest Desert Came to Be by Martin Williams (2021)
The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans by Cynthia Barnett (2021)
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