The Department of Environmental Quality says that amidst declining resources its Water Bureau is trying to meet its most critical obligations by prioritizing five goals and spelling out how to measure whether they are achieved.

The Water Bureau’s “Measures of Success” document, released this month, describes the top goals as: to ensure safe drinking water, protect groundwater, enhance recreational waters, ensure consumable fish, and protect and restore aquatic ecosystems.

In some areas, such as safe drinking water, the state is doing well. More than 99 percent of community drinking water systems meet all state safety measures.

Other goals, such as protecting groundwater safety, will require new program development, the document states.

There currently is no coordinated or compiled groundwater monitoring in Michigan. This needs to be examined and developed.

Ensuring consumable fish is also a major undertaking.

DEQ says it is doing a poor job of ensuring that fish are free from mercury contamination.

There has been essentially no change over time. The mercury concentration in these fish appears to be greatly dependent on the mercury from atmospheric deposition, which is primarily due to burning coal to generate electricity. Currently, in Michigan, coal fired power plants discharge about 4,000 pounds of mercury per year to the atmosphere, while point source wastewater facilities discharge about 20 pounds per year to surface waters. Achieving this goal is premised on the DEQ Mercury Strategy being implemented as scheduled (by 2015), with appropriate controls on mercury emissions from burning coal.

The DEQ says it intends to use this report, “to enlist external assistance, encourage cooperation between the public and private sectors, and enhance discussion about strategic adjustments and priority trade-offs.”