Principles for Review of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

GREAT LAKES
WATER QUALITY BOARD
8.1 Overview
The Board spent most of its time and effort during 2003-2005
on advice on review of the Agreement (Chapter One) and Annex
2 activities (Chapter Three). Board members served in a liaison
capacity to the Science Advisory Board’s (SAB) urbanization
(Chapter Four) and human-health initiatives (Chapter Five). In
addition to the urbanization issue, the Board received special
briefings from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment on stormwater
management, sewage blending, and combined-sewer overflows.
The infrastructure for wastewater collection and treatment in
urban areas is old and needs upgrading, at the same time that
urban sprawl is causing more hardened surfaces and increased
stormwater runoff, thereby resulting in stormwater overflows
and bypasses. So-called “event monitoring” during wet weather
conditions is often not conducted. Consequently, it is difficult
to evaluate the impacts of such practices on water quality,
sensitive beaches, and fish and wildlife habitats. The Board
plans to further address urban infrastructure for wastewater
management and stormwater runoff in selected Great Lakes
urban centres during 2005-2007 in cooperation with the SAB
and the International Air Quality Advisory Board.
The Board remains concerned about the aquatic invasive species
problem in the Great Lakes, but has not conducted substantive
work on this issue since completing its 2001 report, Alien
Invasive Species and Biological Pollution of the Great Lakes Ecostructure.
That report focused on preventing further invasive
species introductions from the ballast-water pathway. The
Board recognizes the importance of preventing invasive species
introductions to the Great Lakes from all pathways, and will
address this issue in 2005-2007.
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