GREAT LAKES DECLARATION
INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION OF THE
UNITED STATES AND CANADA
2003 GREAT LAKES CONFERENCE AND BIENNIAL MEETING
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, USA
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2003

RECOGNIZING that the International Joint Commission (IJC) has, for nearly a century, prevented and resolved disputes between Canada and United States under the Boundary Waters Treaty by apportioning waters and managing levels and flows of the waters along the boundary, including the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, and that under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, the Commission provides advice on restoring water quality in the Great Lakes and on related issues of air quality and human health; and

REAFFIRMING that it is the joint responsibility of Canada and the United States to be stewards of the Great Lakes and that it is the jurisdiction of the International Joint Commission under terms of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) to assess progress and assist both governments in achieving the goals of restoring the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the waters of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem; and

ACKNOWLEDGING that the GLWQA has been a landmark agreement that has served as a blueprint for cooperation and coordination of successful stewardship of the Great Lakes for more than thirty years and that vigorous public participation and dialogue among all interested parties, including aboriginals and Native Americans, must remain a cornerstone of agreement implementation; and

AWARE that the GLWQA requires that the governments of Canada and United States review the agreement after every third biennial report from the IJC (every six years), that the agreement has not been updated or modified since the addition of the 1987 protocol and that the 2004 Biennial Report marks the beginning of the official review process by the governments; and

NOTING that scientific knowledge and ecological conditions have changed dramatically over the thirty year history of the GLWQA, that the relevance of the specific objectives needs to be assessed, that the Annexes may need updating to be meaningful for achieving agreement goals, and that new challenges to the entire ecosystem must be addressed; and

HAVING today completed its Great Lakes Conference and Biennial Meeting, the International Joint Commission has heard a growing consensus from leaders and citizens in the Great Lakes Basin supporting a comprehensive review of the GLWQA with public consultation and input; and

CONCLUDING that the convergence of the mandated review of the GLWQA, the growing interest in the U.S. Congress for a major Great Lakes restoration initiative and the potential renewal of the Canadian federal Great Lakes Program in 2005 make this a time of great potential for dramatic progress toward achieving the goal of a Great Lakes ecosystem where the water is safe for drinking, the beaches are safe for swimming and the fish are safe for eating.

THEREFORE, THE INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION WILL REQUEST A SPECIAL MANDATE FROM THE GOVERNMENTS THAT DEFINES AN APPROPRIATE AND SUBSTANTIAL ROLE FOR THE COMMISSION IN THE REVIEW OF THE GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY AGREEMENT.

TO THAT END, THE IJC DECLARES IT WILL:

MAKE assisting the governments of the United States and Canada in their review of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement a top priority of the commission over the next two years; and

ENGAGE the public in active dialogue and discussion, making the advice it gives to government regarding the review of GLWQA transparent and open to input from all who care about the health of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem; and

FACILITATE public participation in the review process by involving stakeholder organizations such as environmental and conservation groups, industry and trade associations and riparian interests through a variety of mechanisms; and

LISTEN to and consider the broadest possible array of perspectives on the nature of the review of the GLWQA in preparing advice to the governments; and

URGE the governments of the United States and Canada to be thorough, visionary and far-reaching as they review the GLQWA and that they address critical questions regarding the scope of the agreement, the role of the IJC and emerging issues not currently included in the Agreement; and

CONSIDER and recommend to the governments the reporting requirements necessary to track progress, the mechanisms needed for effective implementation and the observing systems needed to gather critical information about ecosystem health; and

ENCOURAGE the governments to fully consider linkages between the review of GLWQA and the adoption of lake restoration initiatives in both countries; and

RELEASE a special report detailing our advice to governments on the review of the GLWQA; and,

Signed this 20th day of September, 2003 by:

THE RT. HONOURABLE HERB GRAY, P.C., C.C., Q.C., CHAIR CANADIAN SECTION
THE HONORABLE DENNIS SCHORNACK, CHAIR, U.S. SECTION
COMMISSIONER JACK BLANEY
COMMISSIONER IRENE BROOKS
COMMISSIONER AL OLSON
COMMISSIONER ROBERT GOURD

---

Copies of this declaration are being forwarded to:
The Honorable Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State
The Honorable William Graham, P.C., Q.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Honorable David Anderson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Environment
The Honorable Mike Leavitt, EPA Administrator (designate)