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IJC Biennial Meeting at Kingston, Ontario,
June 10-11, 2005

Summary of Breakout Session: Vision of Great Lakes Integrity

The following is an IJC staff summary of two breakout sessions on the topic of Vision of Great Lakes Integrity that were held at the Biennial Meeting on Great Lakes Water Quality in Kingston, Ontario, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on June 10, 2005 and from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on June 11, 2005. Six presentations, by the people listed below, were part of the breakout sessions. All slides, abstracts and papers provided by the presenters have been included in the record of the IJC's public consultations on the review of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA).

Friday, June 10, 2005

1. Michael Bradstreet and John Anderson, The Nature Conservancy of Canada and The Nature Conservancy
2. Henry Regier, University of Toronto and Andy Buchsbaum, National Wildlife Federation

Saturday, June 11, 2005

1. Jennifer Nalbone, Great Lakes United
2. Rick Findlay, Pollution Probe

1. A Revised Great Lake Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) must be built on a vision of integrity that incorporates:

• An overarching vision that will guide work for the next 25 years;
• The goal of protecting ecosystem integrity for future generations;
• A greater focus on all components of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem (biological, physical and chemical integrity), including biodiversity and habitat, not just chemicals;
• A greater focus on the nearshore areas and tributaries, not just the open waters;
• A focus on restoring the filtering capacity of the land. This should include a research component to identify the places where wetlands need to be restored;
• A focus on restoring and maintaining the integrity of ecosystem functions, processes and connections, not just the integrity of individual components of the ecosystem;
• A focus on restoring and maintaining the resiliency of the ecosystem. Resiliency is analogous to the immune system of an organism and relates to sustainable use. When the "immune system" is intact, the ecosystem can withstand a certain level of human-induced stress without breaking down.
• A focus on intact ecosystem services to provide for a variety of human needs.

2. The forthcoming GLWQA review is a unique opportunity to consider "big picture" issues and enlist support for a more comprehensive vision of Great Lakes integrity:

• Policy initiatives, including the Annex 2001 process, the Great Lakes Collaboration and the GLWQA review, are converging into a "perfect storm" for refocusing Great Lakes policy;
• Scientific insights into the functioning of the Great Lakes ecosystem may also be converging so that broad ecosystem objectives could be included in a revised GLWQA:
  • Ecosystem breakdown is characterized by general ecosystem responses to interactions among multiple stressors;
  • Multiple stressors can cause the ecosystem to reach "tipping points" from which it cannot recover to an earlier state;
• These scientific insights provide an opportunity to tell a coherent story to citizens and policy makers (rather than providing the usual "laundry list" of problems that have been around for decades):
  • We must repair the "immune system" of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem and restore natural functions to the nearshore areas and coastal communities;
  • It is urgent to act now and avoid the ecological breakdowns that could occur as soon as during the next 5-10 years;
• Ranking of priority biological diversity sites by The Nature Conservancy provides the basis for a "Binational Blueprint for Great Lakes Conservation."
  • While The Nature Conservancy has identified "the best of what is left," we also need strategies to restore areas that are somewhere in between being pristine and completely developed.
• A review of transportation policies is needed. Canada has mothballed its transport system. Transferring intermodal transport units from ship on the East Coast to rail, and then to trucks at the destination, may be more economically efficient and less environmentally damaging than moving goods through the region by ship or truck;
• Energy policies need review, including a review of the nuclear fuel cycle that is transparent and free from political interference;
• But, we must focus on something more concrete than ecosystem integrity. If problems have multiple causes, then everything becomes contingent on something else. Socioeconomic assessments yield the most contingencies of all and provide different answers than environmental assessments.
  • But, how can we solve problems by working on one aspect at a time? We must work on all relevant aspects.
• We need to find ways to emphasize systemic solutions, including possibly closed-loop manufacturing, transportation shifts, tax policies and collective look at our values.

3. The forthcoming review of the GLWQA must consider the major stressors to the Great Lakes basin ecosystem:

• The major stressors leading to ecosystem breakdown are:
  • Exotic species
  • Overfishing
  • Toxic chemicals
  • Land use changes
  • Nutrients
  • Hydraulic changes to flows in groundwater, tributaries and lakes
• The major stressors to biological diversity include:
  • Habitat destruction
  • Altered hydrology
  • Aquatic invasive species
• Global issues, including climate change;
• Human population in the Great Lakes basin and whether it can be reduced;
• Per capita consumption of resources: if it were to be significantly reduced, then the existing population would have less impact.
  • But, would people be willing to make the trade-offs? . to do without their cars or computers?
  • We must find better ways to run our economy without accepting trade offs. We cannot trade off our health.

4. Various institutional and programmatic issues should be considered during the review of the GLWQA:

• The IJC needs to be involved in the GLWQA review to keep the various institutions and issues connected;
  • But, The IJC may not be the right organization to develop a binational vision. Many changes to the way the institutions in our two nations are wired up may be needed. A shared vision process could help organizations to communicate with each other in a meaningful way;
  • A holistic approach to governance might make a holistic approach to the ecosystem more likely.
• The Great Lakes Collaboration is a bottom up approach to developing an agenda, but where does Canada fit in?
  • The critical importance of long-term monitoring and trend analysis must be emphasized;
  • Regular assessment of progress and the obstacles to implementing the requirements of the GLWQA is needed;
  • We need to find effective ways of measuring progress. The environment is the only major policy area that we pursue collectively without asking governments to keep score;
  • Flexibility to look downstream past the international section of the St. Lawrence River is needed.

5. Developing a vision of Great Lakes integrity should also focus on the priority actions needed to achieve it, including:

• Develop policies to prevent the introduction of invasive species, such as biological discharge standards, protocols for best management practices, and blacklists of injurious species;
• Rapidly develop and deploy shipboard ballast treatment. Could cut the introduction of invasive species by 60 percent in two years;
• Protect the 20 best coastal ecosystems;
• Make significant investments in public education and communications programs to change behavior. Focus on how the public is connected to water quality. Local people love their lands and are the best stewards;
• Consider Great Lakes aquatic education, including hands-on field and lab work, particularly for the young. A one-day fish-dissection program for federal officials would result in more governmental action.

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