A two-year grant from the Great Lakes Protection Fund has been awarded to Michigan State University and the Institute of Water Research (IWR) for a project entitled "Restoring Great Lakes Basin Waters Through the Use of Conservation Credits and an Integrated Water Balance Analysis System." The IWR will be responsible for coordinating and collaborating multidisciplinary teams from various organizations including the World Resources Institute, Institute for Fisheries Research of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Public Sector Consultants of Lansing, US Geological Survey District Office, and the MSU Departments of Agricultural Economics, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Geography, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies (CARRS).

The project will integrate three systems --Water Conservation Credit, Water Balance Analysis, and the User Assistance Interface into a single Water Conservation Credits Implementation package. Large water users, including municipalities, corporations, and irrigation users, who are considering major new withdrawals can benefit from the Water Conservation Credits Implementation package by being able to access information on the watershed in which they have an interest, and use this information in their management decisions to guide potential conservation transactions. Individually, the Water Conservation Credits System provides analyses to support the development of an innovative system of water conservation credits which will help policy makers manage water resources to meet the demands of water uses, conservation, and the improvement of ecological sustainability. The Water Balance Analysis System integrates three existing hydrological models that incorporate surface, groundwater, and stream aquatic ecosystem models. The User Assistance Interface System couples the hydrologic models with spatial data to allow a decision maker to create various management scenarios for management of water resources in Michigan and the Great Lakes Basin. Combined, these systems can be used to assess the ecological vulnerability of watersheds, the impacts of wells on groundwater levels, and river and ecosystems, the effectiveness of conservation practices and associated water conservation credits, and other issues. State agencies in the Great Lakes Basin who are responsible for the improvement of water resources and the health of the Greater Lakes Basin ecosystems can use the system package to support development and implementation of state and regional water management policies. Products will be designed as simple online tools by integrating information and models with appropriate interfaces to the water analysis system. The entire study process is guided with inputs from an Advisory Team composed of leaders from a wide set of interest areas.