11th Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality


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The Great Lakes:
Toward the Restoration of a Natural Wonder

None of the world's fresh water resources can rival the Great Lakes. Truly natural wonders of planet earth, their waters and ecosystems are precious to the lives of millions of people who live on and near their shores. They also are critical to the economies of both Canada and the United States. To protect and restore this unparalleled asset, Canada and the United States in 1972 created the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Farsighted and futuristic, the Agreement provides an example to the world of how two countries can forge a commitment to restore the integrity of shared bodies of water. We have made progress on that commitment but, with regret, we declare again, as we did in 2000, that the power of the vision captured in the Agreement has generated neither enough action nor full recovery.

The purpose of the Agreement is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the waters of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem. Yet that integrity continues to be compromised. Pollution endangers human health, and restricts the fish we can safely eat. Habitat continues to be destroyed or spoiled, and the rich diversity of our native fish and wildlife remains threatened. The International Joint Commission urges a balanced but more aggressive approach to restoring and protecting this magnificent asset.

In this report the Commission primarily addresses actions to restore chemical and biological integrity sediment remediation and preventing the introduction of alien invasive species as well as methods to assess progress in restoration. In its next biennial report, its Twelfth Biennial Report, the Commission will address in greater detail the Parties' progress in restoring the physical integrity of the waters of the Great Lakes ecosystem including the challenges of intensified land use, the effects of dredging, wetlands losses and climate change.

Our knowledge of the effects of persistent toxic chemicals on ecosystem health, including humans, has increased enormously. A growing body of evidence shows that toxic pollutants in the Great Lakes basin pose serious risks to our children and to us. Solid studies substantiate harm to both mental and reproductive functions in fetuses and adults. On many previous occasions, the IJC has alerted the governments to the links between ecosystem health, including that of humans, and contamination of the Great Lakes. This Eleventh Biennial Report emphasizes these links. The United States and Canada must invest in measuring and controlling sources of toxic substances, including atmospheric inputs, contaminated groundwater, and urban and agricultural runoff. We strongly urge actions to stop the cycling of contaminants from sediment to people, fish, and wildlife, and to end known injury to ecosystem health.

This report also takes special note of the harm caused by alien species introduced to the Great Lakes basin ecosystems. Often brought to the Great Lakes in ballast tanks from ocean-going ships, booming populations of invaders such as the zebra mussel have already done very serious harm, at great economic cost, to parts of the Great Lakes ecosystem. Although some progress to restrict invasions has been made, the threat of unintentional introductions, such as Asian carp entering the Great Lakes, continues. Present regulations and programs do not prevent new and irreversible injury posed by alien invasive species.

The economic and health benefits of investments to restore and maintain the Great Lakes are compelling. Governments and citizens must measure and recognize these benefits and boldly take the necessary action. The majesty of these Great Lakes should inspire us all to respect and value what the early explorers once called "sweetwater seas."

 

During the IJC's October 2001 Public Forum on Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River Water Quality held in Montréal, Québec, the Parties (the governments of the United States and Canada) addressed the steps they were taking to ensure safety and security of the Great Lakes water resources and infrastructure.
The events of September 11, 2001, have increased the governments' focus on the fundamental security of the Great Lakes water resources from terrorist threats. The Commission recognizes that responsibility for the safety and security of Great Lakes water and water infrastructure systems rests primarily with the governments of the United States and Canada. However, within the scope of its responsibilities, the Commission is prepared to assist the governments in protecting the Great Lakes water resources. The binational arrangements that exist under the Boundary Waters Treaty and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement serve as models of cooperation that could inform future binational actions to address security-related issues.