Evaluating Intergovernmental Performance of Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

• In Event: Federalism and Environmental Policy and Outcomes

Abstract

Since 2010, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) has targeted federal spending through a cooperative interagency process to alleviate degradation and improve water quality in the Great Lakes. Through 2016, over $103 million has been allocated to projects specific to Illinois. The GLRI Task Force and Government Accountability Office acknowledge challenges in the evaluation of this initiative which has broad environmental goals. Here, attention is given to intergovernmental performance, a neglected dimension of GLRI evaluation. Network structure and the scope of federal agency participation in local programming is hypothesized to have a positive relationship with local reports of fidelity to GLRI goals. Through an investigation of GLRI project implementation by local governments in Illinois, using narrative policy analysis, intergovernmental performance is explored and this hypothesis is assessed. While Illinois occupies only a small corner of the Lake Michigan watershed, the experiences of local government recipients of GLRI funding in Illinois provide practical lessons for those seeking to evaluate the results of federal spending on the future of Great Lakes water quality. Federal evaluators must consider and document how GLRI funds modify local policy goals, develop local environmental policy capacity, and integrate federal agencies in local implementation networks.

Author

• Eric Zeemering, University of Georgia