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 51.

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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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Following up on its 2019 report “ Use of Modeling Approaches to Affect Nutrient Management Through Adaptative Management”, this IJC Great Lakes Science Advisory Board-Research Coordination Committee report focuses on progress to date in implementing the Lake Erie Nutrient Adaptive Management...
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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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The Great Lakes Science Strategy for the Next Decade (the Science Strategy) summarizes the science gaps and related resource needs identified by hundreds of knowledge-holders convened by the International Joint Commission (IJC). This Summary Report provides an overview of the project and integrates...
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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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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 connecting waters are vital links in the economic and ecological network of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River system, but they are threatened by multiple stressors. Present monitoring activities are insufficient to adequately inform the management of these connecting waters. The Great Lakes...
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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 keeping with its role to monitor the health of the St. Croix river aquatic ecosystem, the International St. Croix River Watershed Board has released a study exploring opportunities and constraints for improved fish passage for the lower stretches of the St. Croix River.
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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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An environmental stressor is any factor whose presence adversely affects individuals, populations, or ecosystems. Often but not necessarily the result of human activities, examples include many different pollutants, excess nutrients, habitat loss and invasive species. Recognizing that interactions...
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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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2020 Report In June 2020, the International Joint Commission’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) completed a report entitled Understanding Declining Productivity in the Offshore Regions of the Great Lakes. The report includes a number of findings and a recommendation aimed at improving coordination...
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The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (the Agreement) charges the International Joint Commission (IJC), supported by its Great Lakes advisory boards, with several responsibilities including identification of emerging issues facing the Great Lakes. To help fulfil this responsibility the IJC’s Great...
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Annex 10 (Science) of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement assigns the International Joint Commission (IJC) and its Science Advisory Board (SAB) a role in providing input to the Parties on priority science issues on a three year basis. The Parties’ initial Draft Priorities for Science and Action...
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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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This report presents the findings and recommendations of the project, Use of Modeling Approaches to Affect Nutrient Management through Adaptive Management, led by the International Joint Commission's (IJC) Great Lakes Science Advisory Board - Research Coordination Committee (SAB-RCC). The objective...
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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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The International Joint Commission’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) Science Priority Committee undertook a synthesis of the science related to observed and potential impacts of crude oil on Great Lakes water quality and ecosystem condition and identified additional research, monitoring and information...
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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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The purpose of this project was to assess the flow of information to decision makers in the Great Lakes, identify barriers to the flow of this information, and provide recommendations to the IJC and the Parties to address these barriers.
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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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The SAB-RCC, through contractors, thoroughly assessed Great Lakes indicators’ data availability and accessibility and identified potential improvement for indicators used to report progress in meeting the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement objectives.
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This document summarizes the SAB’s advice to the Parties on their Draft 2017-2019 Binational Priorities for Science. This advice benefited from input provided by the IJC’s Great Lakes Water Quality Board. General comments that apply to all Agreement Annexes are presented first, followed by general...
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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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The IJC identified a suite of 16 ecosystem indicators composed of 41 metrics to assess progress towards achieving the objectives of the 2012 GLWQA. In April 2014, the IJC asked the SAB - Science Priority Committee (SPC) to identify a smaller set of indicators and metrics from this existing set that...
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Oraclepoll Research Limited was commissioned by the International Joint Commission’s (IJC) Great Lakes Water Quality Board (WQB) to conduct a telephone survey of residents living in the Great Lakes basin catchment area. The survey was intended to establish baseline data across an array of...
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This report provides the recommendations of the Water Quality Board's Legacy Issues Work Group, with regard to the development of a strategy by the governments of Canada and the United States to address polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the Great Lakes.
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Under Article 7.1 (k) of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, the International Joint Commission has a responsibility for “providing to the Parties, in consultation with the Boards established under Article 8, a triennial “Assessment of Progress Report.” The Commission has also requested advice...
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The report provides advice and recommendations of the Great Lakes Water Quality Board to the International Joint Commission on the implications and impacts of climate change on Great Lakes water quality and beneficial uses, and how address such changes.
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In late 1999, the International Joint Commission asked its Great Lakes Water Quality Board to assess progress made under the Strategy and the contribution of the Strategy toward achievement of the Agreement's virtual elimination goal. To carry out this charge, the Board convened a Progress Review...
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Chapter Two - Great Lakes Science Advisory Board A summary of the SAB's activities and recommendations for the 1999-2001 Priority Cycle.
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A summary of the workshop proceeding sponsored by the Parties Implementation Work Group of the Science Advisory Board of the International Joint Commission in collaboration with the Great Lakes Commission held at The Michigan League Ann Arbor, Michigan March 21, 2001
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Chapter 1 - Great Lakes Science Advisory Board A summary of the SAB's activities and recommendations for the 1997-1999 Priority Cycle.
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As part of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission charge to assess habitat alterations and recommend mitigative strategies to address concerns for aquaculture in the Great Lakes basin, a roundtable discussion of water quality impacts of Great lakes aquaculture was held on January 27-28, 1999 in...
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The International Joint Commission identified contaminated sediment as a program priority. The IJC assigned this priority to the Great Lakes Water Quality Board with the support of the Science Advisory Board and the Council of Research Managers. The Sediment Priority Action Committee was formed from...
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Summary of the importance of contaminated sediment management in the Great Lakes
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Contaminated sediment remediation can be a catalyst in the turnaround of waterfronts, which is important in shaping the future of many cities within the 42 Areas of Concern in the Great Lakes basin. The IJC and its Water Quality Board have worked diligently to spread the word about this important...
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Abstracts from the Workshop on Environmental Results, hosted in Windsor, Ontario by the Great Lakes Science Advisory Board of the International Joint Commission, September 12 and 13, 1996 as printed in Environmental Monitoring Assessment, Volume 53, No. 1, 1998. Reproduced with the written...
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Contaminated sediment is a major problem and well recognized in remedial action plans (RAPs) and lakewide management plans (LaMPs). In an effort to communicate information in a timely fashion, three case studies on environmental benefits of sediment remediation are presented by the WQB's Sediment...
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This report to the Science Advisory Board from the Workgroup on Ecosystem Health was carried out as part of Board activities related to the 1995-97 Priorities under Priority 1 -- Persistent Toxic Substances: Impact on Humans and Ecosystem Health.
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Chapter One: Great Lakes Science Advisory Board In fulfilling its broad mandate to provide science advice under the Agreement, SAB's three work groups (Ecosystem Health, Emerging Issues and Parties Implementation) addressed an IJC priority for the 1995-97 biennial cycle on health, and identified...
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In light of the fact that the Great Lakes Water Quality Board (WQB) was the originator of RAPs, that the WQB is the principal advisor to the International Joint Commission (IJC) on water quality matters, that the WQB is charged with assessing the adequacy and effectiveness of Great Lakes programs...
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Linking Local Watershed Management Efforts across the Lake Ontario Basin was the title of the 5th annual conference of the Finger Lakes-Lake Ontario Watershed Protection Alliance (FLLOWPA) held October 18-19, 1996 in Rochester, New York. The conference also functioned as the first public meeting of...
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The Water Quality Board, as a participant in the development and execution of the 1993-95 Great Lakes Priorities of the International Joint Commission, had direct involvement in the pollution prevention, pulp and paper, groundwater and pesticides issues described in this chapter. In addition, the...
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