Publications

IJC publications contain both board and corporate documents, including reports, fact sheets, infographics, and presentations. Contractor reports are created on behalf of or in coordination with the IJC or its boards by a separate entity, including individuals, companies, and governments. Government reports are documents developed by US or Canadian local/provincial/state/federal government that are of interest to the IJC or board.

IJC Content

Displaying 1 - 50 of 220.

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2023 Consultant Report and Summary Letter In 2021, the IJC’s Water Quality Board launched the Manure Nutrient Management Collaborative (Collaborative) with representatives from agriculture, conservation, business, environmental science and government leaders, working toward protection of water...
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In 2023 the WQB, with a team of consultants, produced a report that collected and analyzed ecological, economic, social, political, demographic, technological and cultural data to identify key drivers and trends expected to influence the Great Lakes region over the next 30 years. From this, four...
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In the spring and summer of 2022, the Namakan Chain of Lakes1 and Rainy Lake reached the highest water levels on record. The flood was a natural disaster that lasted for many weeks. Rainy Lake reached record-breaking water levels, and Namakan Lake ranked as the third highest on record. Since 1949...
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This document serves as a high-level summary of the Water Levels Committee’s Post Flood Report. Read the full report.
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This white paper presents the results of a collaboration between the International Joint Commission’s Health Professionals Advisory Board and the Great Lakes Beach Association to assess the binational extent, experience and effects of Great Lakes Beach Sanitary Surveys in the United States and...
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Tenth Annual Report from the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board. January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022.
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In the spring and summer of 2022, the Namakan Chain of Lakes and Rainy Lake reached the highest water levels on record. The flood was a natural disaster that lasted for many weeks. Rainy Lake reached record-breaking water levels, and Namakan Lake ranked as the third highest on record. Since 1949...
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To the Official Compilation Prescribing the Method of Regulating the Levels of Boundary Waters dated September 13, 2018.
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February 2023 slide deck from NOAA - Current Conditions and Outlook for Rainy River Basin
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Water Levels Committee: Pre-Spring Engagement - February 27, 2023 slide deck Base Flows Snowpack Temperature Overall Picture Long-Range forecasts and Climate
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As part of the International Rainy Lake of the Woods Watershed Board’s implementation of the IJC’s climate change guidance framework, the Adaptive Management Committee engaged water resources experts, IJC staff, and the public in a half-day, in-person workshop in Fort Frances, ON on the margins of...
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This infographic outlines the roles and responsibilities for the management of water levels in the Rainy-Lake of the Woods basin.
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About Water Quality Board Watching Briefs The Great Lakes Water Quality Board (WQB) develops watching briefs for the purpose of summarizing significant developments, events and information in a factual manner on specific, defined topic areas. They are periodically updated and serve to keep the WQB...
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To the Official Compilation Order Prescribing the Method of Regulating the Levels of Boundary Waters dated September 13, 2018
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In 2021 the WQB produced a report (updated August 2023) on the topic of decommissioning nuclear power plants in the Great Lakes basin, which identified potential opportunities in the decommissioning process to reduce threats to the Great Lakes environment. The WQB recommends binational alignment of...
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The report outlines changes that have occurred since the last report in 2014, focusing on the primary areas of concern in the watershed of nutrients and algae, contaminants, climate change, aquatic invasive species, and erosion/water levels. The report also highlights concerns about the health of...
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Reports The Great Lakes Water Quality Board completed its third Great Lakes Regional Poll in 2021. The 2021 Great Lakes Regional Poll results provide a snapshot of Great Lakes residents' views on topics including: the importance to protect the Great Lakes environmental health and water quality, and...
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The Health Professionals Advisory Board conducted a proof-of-concept pilot study to assess whether it is feasible to collect comparable, binational water quality and population health data for locations around the Great Lakes, and whether such data could be used to generate conclusions and examine...
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In 1913, a ground-breaking IJC monitoring study linked untreated sewage pollution to widespread disease in the Great Lakes. One hundred years later, the question remains whether nearshore fecal bacterial/microbial water quality is getting better or worse. While technology to prevent and track this...
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This report provides background on the IJC Climate Adaption Guidance Framework and an update on implementation by the IRLWWB and Adaptive Management Committee.
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The Health Professionals Advisory Board (HPAB) has undertaken a human health review of selenium at the request of the International Joint Commission (IJC) and developed this technical report with the assistance of contractor Michael Kosnett. Selenium is an essential nutritional element that supports...
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This report summarizes the results of the first phase of a project to address the need for Water Quality Objectives and Alert Levels for the Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed. Water Quality Objectives are internationally agreed upon standards, whereas Alert Levels are advisory level triggers that...
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The purpose of this document is to compile unbiased background information about nuclear energy production, the nuclear regulators, the decommissioning process, radioactive waste management, and status of the nuclear power facilities in the Great Lakes basin. The background report is also...
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In January 2017 the WQB produced a Climate Change and Adaption in the Great Lakes project summary that focused on the need for coordinated binational action in developing a climate adaption and resiliency strategy for the Great Lakes. The WQB undertook follow-up work to explore ways to advance...
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The International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board (IRLWWB) is charged with monitoring and reporting on the ecological health of the Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake boundary waters aquatic ecosystem, including water quality; coordinating the management of water levels and flows on Rainy and...
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The IJC’s Health Professional Advisory Board (HPAB) was created to provide advice to the Commission and its Boards about current and emergent clinical and public health issues in the area of environmental health. The HPAB will be responsive to requests from the IJC and other Boards and stakeholders...
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Slides from the Great Lakes Water Quality Board's webinar presenting the results of its Second Binational Poll
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A report by the Great Lakes Water Quality Board that presents the key findings of a poll conducted in 2018 of U.S. and Canadian citizens in the Great Lakes basin related to Great Lakes Water Quality. The poll was the second conducted by the WQB and follows the first poll which was completed in 2015.
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In the Matter of Emergency Regulation of the Level of Rainy Lake and of other Boundary Waters in the Rainy Lake Watershed Supplementary Order To the Order Prescribing Method of Regulating the Levels of Boundary Waters, dated 8 June 1949, as amended by Supplementary Orders dated 1 October 1957, 29...
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This report presents the recommendations of the Great Lakes Water Quality Board on the topic of how watershed management plans should be used to manage nutrient pollution in Lake Erie. The implementation of effective watershed management plans is an important tool in a holistic approach to reducing...
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This report provides the recommendations of the Water Quality Board to address the challenges in seeking alternatives to the use of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) as flame retardants, and avoiding the release of PBDEs during product use, recycling and disposal through the implementation of...
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Cyanotoxins are an unfortunate consequences of harmful algal blooms in fresh water systems in both Canada and the United States. This report is a literature review of the state of ecological and epidemiological science of cyanobacterial toxins with an emphasis on its relevance to conditions in the...
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This report presents the recommendations of the Great Lakes Water Quality Board's Legacy Issues Work Group on the topic of how watershed management plans should be used to manage nutrient pollution in Lake Erie.
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