Plans rolled out this week that will take giant steps in getting control of a variety of problems besetting the Great Lakes seems like good policy.

As was widely reported by The Associated Press and other agencies, the updated five-year federal plan centers on accelerated efforts to address toxic pollution, invasive species and farm runoff and restore plant and wildlife habitat.

A top Environmental Protection Agency official released the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative’s action plan in Chicago at a meeting of mayors from Great Lakes states Wednesday.

AP reported that beginning in 2017, projects must consider the impact of climate change. For example, wetland plants and trees would be selected for suitability to warmer temperatures and watershed restorations would be designed to handle more frequent and intense storms.

In the past five years, Congress has set aside some $1.6 billion for a wide variety of Great Lakes programs. That has included, among other things, the removal of toxic sediments and invasive plants and the rebuilding of wetlands.

AP noted the initiative also has supported efforts to prevent Asian carp from reaching the lakes and is targeting runoff from farms and sewage plants that causes noxious algae bloom.

As a general proposition, because the Great Lakes are so important in so many ways, money spent to protect them falls into the wise expenditure category.

This appears to be more of the same.