Maybe we are seeing an investment in the sewer system that treats our waste, but it is not yet enough. A now gone page on the NEORSD website’s CSO section listed the locations of CSO outfalls and the number of occurrences on average. All totaled, it is 3,693 too many for my taste. Despite the 103 miles of storage tunnels that are being built at customer’s expense, there are things municipalities could do to help this problem. If we changed city codes and encouraged downspout diversion and rainwater harvesting, there would be a decrease in water in the combined system. Many cities nationwide have adopted this practice. It is a best management practice suggested by the EPA’s Phase II Stormwater Program. I know that you can do it in Shaker Heights (it is a remedy for the wet basement syndrome there – ask Jim LaRue) and that Andrew Watterson has been quietly promoting the practice despite antiquated building codes in Cleveland. It will not fix the problem, but it is a way for us all to learn that our actions can help in the river and lake clean up. Maybe one day those surfers will be surfing blue waves at Edgewater.

Thankfully, we're starting to see more coverage and advocacy to preserve the Great Lakes as the priceless natural resource it is. World Changing is doing in Chicago what GreenCityBlueLake is for Northeast Ohio. It has an interesting post on the question of water quality in the lakes. If Ohio's legislature needs any more encouragement to make us the first state to sign the Great Lakes Compact, it would be this enlightening moment from said post:

...about 5,000 gallons of water are lost annually for every one of the Great Lakes basin's 33 million residents, which is equivalent to 157 billion gallons of water forever lost from the region's watershed. So not only must we clean and purify the water remaining in the Lakes, but we must also watch over and cultivate its healthy renewal.