MEDIA RELEASE
Release date: March 15
th
, 2000
IJC recommends comprehensive measures to governments for protecting waters
of
Great Lakes
Basin
The International Joint Commission (IJC) today released a report that
provides a blueprint for protecting the waters of the world's largest
freshwater ecosystem, the Great Lakes Basin, from
the potential impacts of
water removals and consumptive uses.
In its
Final Report on Protection of the Waters of the Great Lakes
, the IJC recommends that Canadian and U.S. federal, provincial and state
governments should not permit the removal of
water from the Great Lakes
Basin unless the proponent can demonstrate that the
removal will not
endanger the integrity of the Great Lakes ecosystem.
The proponent would also have to demonstrate that there are no
practical alternatives to the removal, sound planning has been
applied in the proposal, the cumulative impacts of the removal
have been
considered, conservation practices have been implemented, the
removal results in no net loss of waters to the area from which it is
taken (and, in any event, no greater than a five
percent loss in the
process, the current average loss within the Great Lakes
Basin) and that
all waters are returned in a condition that protects the quality of and
prevents the introduction of
alien invasive species into the waters
of the Great Lakes Basin.
The report also recommends that, in order to avoid endangering the integrity
of
the Great Lakes
Basin ecosystem, the governments should not
approve any proposal for a major
new or increased
consumptive use of
water from the Great Lakes Basin unless full consideration
has been given
to
its potential cumulative impacts, and unless effective conservation
practices
are implemented,
sound planning practices applied, and that
all waters returned meet the
objectives of the Great
Lakes Water
Quality Agreement. Moreover, the report recommends that governments
apply
a
number of specific conservation measures to significantly improve
efficiencies
in the use of
water in the Great Lakes Basin, including
the setting of water prices at a
level that
encourages
conservation.
Because there is uncertainty about the availability of Great Lakes water
to
meet all ecosystem
needs, including human needs, over the long
term, the report concludes that
water should be
managed with caution
to protect the resource for the future. It also concludes
that
international
trade law obligations, including the provisions of the North
American Free
Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) and the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT), do not prevent
Canada and
the United States
from taking measures to protect their water resources and
preserving
the
integrity of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem so long as there is
no
discrimination against
individuals from other countries in the
application of those measures.
On the basis of its findings, the IJC also recommends that federal,
provincial
and state
governments should move quickly to remedy
deficiencies in water use data;
implement long-
term comprehensive
monitoring programs to detect threats to ecosystem
integrity; conduct
more
extensive studies of the role of groundwater in the Great Lakes
Basin; and
undertake research on
the individual and cumulative
impacts of water withdrawals.
The report recommends that governments use and build on existing
institutions
to implement the
IJC's recommendations and that
governments should develop standards and
procedures for
removals and
major new or increased consumptive uses. Federal, state
and
provincial
governments should not authorize or permit any new
removals, and should
exercise caution with
respect to major new or
increased consumptive use, until these standards have
been
promulgated
or until 24 months have passed, whichever comes first. States
and provinces
should also build on
the Great Lakes Charter by
developing a broader range of consultation
procedures than
currently
exist.
As requested in the Reference from governments, the report proposes a plan
of
work to better
understand the implications of water consumption,
diversions and removals along
the rest of the
boundary beyond the
Great Lakes Basin, focusing on priority issues where the
IJC can
contribute
binational experience and resources.
The Final Report responds to the request made by the governments of Canada
and
the United
States in their February 10, 1999 Water Uses Reference
for recommendations for
the protection
of the Great Lakes. The IJC
previously issued an Interim Report under this
Reference on
August
18, 1999. Since issuing its Interim Report, the IJC has obtained
additional
information from a
variety of sources, including 12 public
hearings. The IJC has also consulted
government officials
and experts
on climate change, cumulative impacts, and international trade and
water
law.
For more information, including the IJC's
Final Report on Protection of the Waters of the Great Lakes
, visit
www.ijc.org
on the World Wide Web. Copies of the
Final Report are also
available
upon request at the addresses below:
The International Joint Commission was created under the Boundary Waters
Treaty
of 1909
to help prevent and resolve disputes over the use of
waters along the
Canada-United States
boundary. Under the Rainy Lake
Convention of 1938, the Commission also sets the
outflow
from Rainy
and Namakan Lakes to prevent them from reaching emergency high and
low
water
conditions.