The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative has recently launched its campaign to secure $20 billion for shoreline communities throughout the Great Lakes Basin and along the Mississippi River impacted by high waters and shoreline erosion.

The Cities’ Initiative’s ask to both the US and Canadian federal governments is to invest in water infrastructure and coastal protection to accelerate economic recovery:

• U.S. government: $20 billion for water infrastructure and $500 million for coastal protection to create an estimated 400,000 jobs.
• Canadian government: $6.3 billion for water infrastructure and $700 million for coastal protection to create an estimated 152,000 jobs.

To get a full overview of the campaign you can visit their website here. You can also view the kickoff webinar for the campaign here and the campaign fact sheet here.

The Cities’ Initiative has also developed a resource toolkit for municipal leaders on the Initiative. You can find the full toolkit with sample resolutions, letters to Congress, and other resources at the base of their campaign webpage here. 

For more information on the Stimulus Water Restoration Initiative, contact Executive Director Jon Altenburg at [email protected].

Herasanna Richards is a legislative associate handling energy, environmental, elections, and external municipal services for the League. She can be reached at [email protected] or 517-908-0309.