MEMO
To:
Record
From:
Paul
Shriner,
EPA
Date:
11/
22/
2005
RE:
Definition
and
Delineation
of
the
Great
Lakes
Region
for
the
Purposes
of
Costing
The
Great
Lakes
region
includes
all
facilities
located
on
the
shoreline
of
a
Great
Lake
or
on
a
waterway
with
open
passage
to
a
Great
Lake
and
within
30
miles
of
a
lake
in
Minnesota,
Wisconsin,
Illinois,
Michigan,
Indiana,
Ohio,
Pennsylvania,
and
New
York.
This
definition
is
based
on
EPA's
estimate
of
the
extent
of
the
spawning
habitat
of
Great
Lakes
fish
species,
including
spawning
habitat
in
rivers
and
tributaries
of
the
Great
Lakes.
The
distance
each
species
may
travel
upstream
to
spawn
varies
depending
on
both
the
species
and
the
waterway,
and
is
influenced
by
obstacles
such
as
dams.
After
consultation
with
local
fisheries
experts,
EPA
determined
that
inclusion
of
waters
within
30
miles
of
the
Great
Lakes
is
likely
to
encompass
spawning
areas
of
Great
Lakes
fishes.
EPA
used
GIS
to
determine
which
facilities
are
on
a
waterbody
that
has
unobstructed
passage
to
the
Great
Lakes
and
is
within
30
miles
of
a
Great
Lake.
Data
from
the
Lake
Huron
Project
were
used
for
areas
encompassed
by
that
project.
For
areas
not
covered
by
the
Lake
Huron
Project,
this
was
done
using
the
ERF1
streams
coverage
(
available
at
http://
water.
usgs.
gov/
lookup/
getspatial?
erf1),
the
national
dams
coverage
(
available
at
http://
data.
geocomm.
com/
catalog/
US/
group7.
html),
and
a
basic
U.
S.
states
coverage.
No
facilities
drawing
from
other
lakes
or
reservoirs
were
included
among
the
Great
Lake
facilities
unless
the
waterbodies
were
connected
to
the
Great
Lakes.
For
the
purposes
of
costing,
EPA
conservatively
assumes
that
all
facilities
meeting
this
definition
are
Great
Lakes
facilities.
