The State of the Great Lakes

Introduction

Indicators can be thought of as pieces of evidence that provide information on matters of broader concern. A legendary environmental indicator was "the canary in the coal mine." Miners, or so the story goes, would bring a caged canary into a coal mine. If the canary stopped singing, and in fact had perished, it would serve as an early warning that harmful gases were building toward a level unsafe for miners.

Technically, an indicator can be defined as a value that reflects the condition of an environmental function or service that extends beyond the measurement itself. Consistent use of indicators over time provides the means to assess progress toward an objective.¹ An ideal indicator of environmental quality in the Great Lakes region would show whether the parameter being measured is improving or deteriorating over time (temporal trends) and whether there are differences between geographic areas or entire lake basins (spatial trends). When an established target or end point for an indicator is defined, the indicator can also show how close we are to achieving the goal and the broader set of conditions it reflects. For example, measurements of a given contaminant ­ say, mercury ­ in the tissues of a species of fish could be used to establish whether levels of that contaminant were increasing, decreasing or stable. (Indicators need not be living things. The condition of an abiotic, or non-living component of the environment, such as water quality, can also serve as an indicator.)

A good indicator is more than a measurement of one factor. Taken together, a set of indicators can be used to better understand the complexity of the Great Lakes, help guide policies, programs and decision making, and inform the public of progress in restoring the ecosystem.

The International Joint Commission is responsible for evaluating progress in meeting the objectives of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The Parties to the Agreement (governments of the United States and Canada) must also report on their progress in meeting the objectives of the Agreement. Reporting on a set of indicators that meets the Parties' needs while satisfying the Commission's requirements avoids duplication of reporting. It can also foster better collaboration between the Commission and the Parties. The Parties use the indicator framework of the State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC) as an important mechanism to report progress on environmental quality.