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Great Lakes activities
Other activities
Review of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
In summer 2005, the governments of Canada and the United States asked the International Joint Commission (IJC) to seek the public's views on how well the GLWQA has worked so far and how effective it has been. The IJC held public meetings in 14 Great Lakes and St. Lawrence cities in the fall and wrapped up its consultations with an innovative Web Dialogue. It also received comments from more than 4000 individuals and organizations by hand, mail, fax, phone, e-mail and online. The IJC has now released a report synthesizing the views it heard. See www.ijc.org/glconsultations.
Activities under Annex 2 of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
Nearly a decade after the revised 1978 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement was signed by Canada and the United States, the two nations agreed that the worst areas would be given priority attention. Subsequently, 43 such areas were designated as Areas of Concern because they contained contaminated sediment, inadequately treated wastewater, nonpoint source pollution, inland contaminated sites or degraded habitat to a greater degree than the rest of the Great Lakes. Twenty-six of these are solely in the United States, 10 are solely in Canada, and five are binational waterways.
Review of the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Orders of Approval
It has been 50 years since a comprehensive assessment was performed of water levels and flows regulation in the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River system. On May 31, 2006, the IJC received the final report from the Board it set up in 2000 to study it. Now the Commission, which is considering making changes to its Orders of Approval for the project at Cornwall (Ontario) and Massena (New York), has opened a 60-day public comment period on the Board’s final report.
The Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Study Board
The Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River Study Board has now completed its five-year study which the International Joint Commission (IJC) will use to assess and evaluate the current criteria used for regulating water levels on Lake Ontario and in the St. Lawrence River; the report will be released in the spring. The Study Team engaged by the IJC was a bi-national group of diverse experts from government, academia, native communities, and interest groups representing the geographical, scientific and community concerns of the Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River system. Visit the board's web site at
www.losl.org
The Upper Great Lakes Study
The IJC is starting a major study of the upper Great Lakes. The study area includes lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie, and their interconnecting channels (St. Mary’s River, St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River and Niagara River). It will draw on the results of the study to determine whether the regulation of Lake Superior outflows can be improved to address the evolving needs of the upper Great Lakes, and whether it needs to update its Order of Approval at St. Mary’s River between Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, to do so.
Watershed Initiative
Visit the Watershed Initiative web site
The IJC continues to support the establishment of ecosystem-focused watershed boards, in accordance with a 1998 request from the U.S. and Canadian governments. Core elements of the concept include recognizing local expertise and initiatives and coordinating among numerous organizations within the watershed -- including the IJC's board -- for mutual benefit, while respecting differing responsibilities. The IJC's fundamental interest in promoting the watershed board concept is to more effectively meet its mandate of peventing and resolving transboundary water disputes and not to replace existing basin authorities or organizations.
Grand Coulee Dam
Request from the Canadian Columbia River Inter-Tribal River Fisheries Commission concerning Grand Coulee Dam
The IJC has extended the deadline for parties to submit their views to December 31, 2005.
View correspondence concerning CCRIFC's request that the IJC issue an order with respect to the 1941 Order of Approval for Grand Coulee dam and reservoir.
Canada–United States Air Quality Agreement
Under the 1991 Canada-United States Air Quality Agreement, the International Joint Commission (IJC) is given the responsibility to invite public comment on each progress report prepared by the governments' Air Quality Committee every two years. The IJC also prepares a synthesis of the comments it receives, the most recent of which was released in March 2006 and is available online. The full record of public comment made on the governments' 2004 report is also available online.
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