Multiple revisions of the GLWQA have led to improved water quality. The greatest success in many of the Great Lakes has been phosphorus levels, which have dropped below targets.
"Though reduction of non-point pollution such as agricultural and urban runoff has generally improved over the last 50 years, I don’t think we’re quite there yet." - Jeff D. Strom, Water Resource Scientist, personal interview, 2018
"Figure 2: Mean spring TP concentration (µgP/L) for the offshore waters of the Upper Great Lakes and Georgian Bay. The filled and open circles represent Canadian and U.S. data, respectively. The grey circles for Lake Michigan are taken from Scavia et al. (1960-2010) Dashed lines represent the target water quality objectives."
However, Lake Erie’s health is an example of a flaw in the agreement, as phosphorus levels remain high.
"Figure 3: Mean spring TP concentration (µgP/L) for the offshore waters if the three basins of Lake Erie. The filled and open circles represent Canadian and U.S. data, respectively. Dashed lines represent the target water quality objectives."
"The IJC finds that the water quality of western and central Lake Erie remains unacceptable." -IJC, 2017
Shifting Ideas
Through the 1980s Lake Erie's health showed improvement. Seuss removed the Lake Erie line in all subsequent copies of his book, but recently, Lake Erie is once again approaching a “dead state” prompting further discussion.
"Unfortunately, the invitation of text, like that of the lakes, cannot be accomplished over night. The objectionable line will be removed from future editions. But it could possibly take more than a year before the existing stock of books has been moved out of book stores." - Dr. Seuss, 1986 |
"Were he alive today, he'd probably be angry enough to put the line back. It turned out lake Erie wasn't actually cured of its algal ills; they had only gone into remission... dead zones eventually returning to the levels rivaling the lakes dark days of the 1960s and early 1970s." -Dan Egan, 2017 |
"Nutrients are the primary pollutants that degrade water quality below designated-use thresholds, and phosphorus is the most significant of these." -Minnesota's Report to Congress, 1994 Paired with new farming techniques, climate change, and budget cuts, Lake Erie's water quality is approaching 1970’s levels. Excessive phosphorus has produced toxic algae blooms which threaten the potability, health, and recreational use of the water.
|
Lake Erie: "A Dying Sea"
"Lake Erie suffered immensely throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries as a receptacle for human and agricultural waste, but nothing compares to what is happening today." - The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, Dan Egan, 2017 "Erie is by far the shallowest of the Great Lakes, has a relatively large watershed, and receives a significant amount of pollution inputs from agricultural land that drains to the lake. These nutrients cause algae blooms, which in turn leads to dissolved oxygen depletion which can affect the biologic communities in the lake." - Jeff D. Strom, personal interview, 2018 |
Binational Efforts
"The first step in our urgent work together to protect Lake Erie from toxic algae, harmful algal blooms, and other effects of nutrient runoff, is to establish these important phosphorus limits. But, establishing these targets is not the end of our work together. We are already taking action to meet them." -Gina McCarthy, Administrator, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2008 |
"Canada recognizes the urgency and magnitude of the threat to Lake Erie water quality and ecosystem health posed by toxic and nuisance algal blooms. By establishing these targets, we strengthen our resolve to work with our American neighbours, and Canadian and U.S. stakeholders who share these waters, to protect the tremendous natural resource that is Lake Erie." -Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, 2010 |
Recent administrations in both countries have cut funding for environmental protection and the administrators of the GLWQA, are directly affected by shrinking budgets, showing a devaluation of environmental protection. This could result in the "death"
of the Great Lakes and harm to local tourism economies. “It’s clear that when it comes to the Great Lakes, our priorities are at odds with the administration.” -U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, 2012 |
"Throughout human history, water has defined our sense of place. International water law reflects the connections between water and local people, communities, and the environment. " -Noah D. Hall, environmental and water law, 2010
Proudly powered by Weebly