NEWS RELEASE
Wednesday, June 15, 2011

“H₂O NOW”– 2011 IJC Great Lakes Water Quality Biennial Meeting will be in Detroit, Michigan Historic Joint Meeting to be held at Wayne State University

[Detroit, Michigan & Windsor, Ontario] – Today, the International Joint Commission (IJC) announced that the 2011 Great Lakes Water Quality Biennial Meeting will be held October 12-14 on the campus of Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. The theme of the meeting is “H₂O NOW”, emphasizing the pressing need for the public, industry, environmental groups and governments to take action and work together to protect and restore the Great Lakes.

“The Detroit-Windsor crossing is the busiest in North America and the Biennial Meeting will be just as busy with hundreds of participants coming together to build new partnerships, learn about the latest science and share ideas that lead to action,” said the Hon. Joe Comuzzi, the Canadian Co-Chair of the IJC.

“At the Biennial Meeting in Detroit, the public can learn firsthand about the health of the Great Lakes and how to press for action,” said the Hon. Lana Pollack, U.S. Co-Chair of the IJC. “H₂O NOW is a reflection of the urgent need for action, not just by governments, but by everyone who uses the lakes to swim, fish and drink the water.”

For the first time, the IJC Biennial Meeting will be held in conjunction with the annual meetings of the Great Lakes Commission and the Healing Our Waters Coalition (an organization of more than 100 environmental groups), among other organizations. In addition to holding their respective meetings, all of the groups will meet jointly for a half day afternoon session on October 12 that will feature reports on progress toward Great Lakes restoration from top government officials and a public town hall meeting.

The Biennial Meeting is a critical opportunity for citizens throughout the Great Lakes basin community to become involved in the work of the IJC. Over the past two years expert work groups have been tasked by the Commission’s Great Lakes advisory boards to undertake research in six key priority areas: the Nearshore Framework; Chemicals of Emerging Concern; Harmful and Nuisance Algae; Aquatic Invasive Species; Benefits and Risks of Fish Consumption; and Beaches and Recreational Water Quality.

On October 13^th, the public can participate in workshops on each of the priorities and provide comments on the findings and recommendations regarding draft reports that will be published later this summer. This public input will inform the 16^th Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality, a responsibility of the IJC under the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, to be published in 2012. A detailed schedule and registration information is posted at http://meeting.ijc.org/.

The IJC prevents and resolves disputes between the U.S. and Canada under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty and pursues the common good of both countries as an independent and objective advisor to the two governments.

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