Featured

Canada, U.S. to update water quality pact

While the clouds might have threatened rain, for the future of the Great Lakes there’d be no wet blanket. In June, the International Joint Commission celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Boundary Waters Treaty in Niagara Falls Ontario and New York. As the celebrations neared, rumours were flying that the governments would take this opportunity to announce the renegotiation of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

In this case, the rumours were true. In a special ceremony on the Rainbow Bridge across the Niagara River, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the announcement with Niagara Falls as her backdrop.

“In its current form, the Great Lakes Agreement does not sufficiently address the needs of our shared ecosystem. So I’m pleased to announce that Canada and the United States have agreed to update the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement,” said Clinton.

Her Canadian counter-part, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon, while never explicitly mentioning the Agreement, echoed the importance of cooperation in sharing the waters of the Great Lakes, remarking “Today, the Great Lakes face a number of new challenges. As a result, we are taking new steps to protect them. We will work together to ensure that citizens of both countries have access to clean, safe, and healthy water, that there is a reliable and secure supply.”

For advocates of Great Lakes protection, Clinton and Cannon’s comments were an encouraging sign that the federal governments are clearly focussed on protecting these vital waters.

The governments hope to have a revised GLWQA signed in about a year. The governments have stated that the Agreement will still focus on water quality but that it will be updated to address invasive species, new chemicals of concern, and to make use of our improved knowledge of how to protect the ecosystem.

The two federal governments held a preliminary meeting at the end of July and plan to hold another meeting in late September. At the September meeting, they hope to have agreement on the workplan for renegotiating the Agreement. The Canadian federal government plans to set up a multi-stakeholder committee to advise it throughout the negotiation process. The U.S. government has not yet said what methods it will use for public involvement.

The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement has been the catalyst for major initiatives to clean up and protect the Great Lakes. The Agreement was first signed by Prime Minister Trudeau and President Nixon in 1972 to address the excessive nutrient loadings that were literally strangling Lake Erie and causing severe damage in the other Great Lakes. It was subsequently revised in 1978 and 1987, again using trail blazing world-leading science on pollution prevention and setting a new global standard with concepts like virtual elimination and zero discharge.

Since the last renegotiation, the Agreement has begun to stagnate as new and unforeseen challenges threaten the lakes. From climate change to invasive species, to new chemicals of concern, the current Agreement is ill-equipped to tackle these problems.

Great Lakes United has been working with its allies to give voice to the public’s desire for a reinvigorated agreement. In 2007, the coalition identified 13 principles to guide renegotiation and they are now working to further detail these and ensure that they are included in the Agreement.

© 2009 Great Lakes News.