Project Statement

At the US-Canada border, the Great Lakes face ecological imbalance due to pollution and declining self-purification. Centered on Lake St. Clair, connecting Lake Huron and Erie, the project targets key upstream and downstream nodes. Upstream, a “Farmland-Wetland-River” system employs ecological farming, river reshaping, and wetland filtration to control nitrogen and phosphorus pollution. Downstream, a “Industrial Building-Stepped Purification Pool-Water” system reduces industrial pollutants through green upgrades, wetlands, and advanced filtration. These interconnected systems form a closed loop, accelerating water flow, restoring resilience, and improving water quality in the lakes.

Project Narrative

The Great Lakes, located at the boundary between the United States and Canada, form the largest freshwater lake system in the world, containing about 21% of the Earth's surface freshwater resources. Covering an area of 245,660 km², over 40 million people depend on these lakes for drinking water. The lakes also play a vital role in ecological conservation and economic development—though their large size and relatively enclosed environment have created a unique ecosystem, hosting over 150 fish species that serve as important spawning grounds. However, rapid urbanization, industrialization, and agricultural runoff have led to severe pollution, compounded by the lakes' slow water flow. Currently, the lakes contain around 30,000 common industrial compounds, bloom with blue-green algae covering over 5,000 km², and accumulate 2.5 million pounds of garbage. How to reduce water pollution and improve water quality has become an urgent issue for local authorities.

Among the Great Lakes, Lake St. Clair is the most special; it is not only a vital shipping route but also a connector between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, functioning as a key hub and often called the "purification basin" of the Great Lakes. This project aims to address the pollution in Lake St. Clair, and consequently improve water quality in Lake Huron and Lake Erie, ultimately benefiting the entire Great Lakes system. Based on this concept, we selected two representative sites: Site 1, an upstream farmland inflow area, and Site 2, a downstream industrial hotspot in Detroit, which is severely polluted. These sites influence each other and form a cyclical system in Lake St. Clair.

Our design proposes a scientific plan focusing on ecological restoration of farmland upstream and industrial zone cleanup downstream to rebuild a resilient, sustainable drainage basin. Considering Site 1's location and land use—wetlands and farmland—we devised strategies such as reconfiguring agricultural practices, restoring wetlands, and redesigning riverine terrains. These measures aim to control nitrogen and phosphorus discharges, dredge river channels, and enhance wetlands' natural purification and biodiversity protection capacities, creating an ecological closed loop that mitigates upstream soil runoff pollution.

For Site 2, at the industrial outlet, we adopted a spatial system incorporating "Industrial Zone — Transition Zone — Water Body." This involves renovating industrial buildings, designing buffer zones including artificial stepped water purification ponds, and integrating natural self-purification with mechanical filtration within the water bodies. This layered filtration system progressively filters pollutants, improving water quality while reducing pollution loads.

The coordinated strategies at both sites accelerate flow velocity in Lake St. Clair, improving water quality and transforming it into an effective purification basin that positively influences Lake Huron and Lake Erie downstream. This, in turn, speeds up the overall water cycle of the Great Lakes, alleviating pollution. Additionally, shoreline reinforcement, land use planning, and biodiversity restoration will enhance the basin's ecological resilience.

This project concentrates on a crucial segment of the Great Lakes, demonstrating a precise, small-scale intervention that catalyzes systemic ecological restoration—embodying the philosophy of "seeing micro influences to understand macro systems" in ecological governance.