12 www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Fall 2022 GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY AGREEMENT GBA has provided input on the binational Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) since its inception in 1972. The GLWQA is a diplomatic agreement between the United States and Canada on shared priorities, goals, and strategies to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Waters of the Great Lakes.” With 2022 marking the 50th anniversary, we have been busy on your behalf ensuring that the major issues that affect Georgian Bay will be addressed over the next 50 years. On September 27-29, the Canadian and US Federal Governments will host their largest listening session in years at the 2022 Great Lakes Public Forum in Niagara Falls. This represents the best opportunity for public input on the GLQWA since 1972 and will help frame the next decades of international collaboration to protect and restore the Great Lakes, their basins, and the connecting waterways. Why is the GLWQA important? Water quality has arguably been the top issue for GBA associations and members since GBA was formed in 1916, and consistent, robust progress under the GLWQA is one of the best ways we can ensure our water quality is maintained/ improved. If the respective federal governments were doing their job well and making timely progress on the many issues covered by the agreement, there would be little need for GBA to weigh in. However, progress has been too slow, opportunities have been missed, and there is a need to hold accountable the two primary agencies (Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)) and press for improvements going forward. What has GBA done? In recent years, GBA sat on the Canadian Stakeholder Advisory Panel for the 2010 GLWQA negotiations, has been granted Official Observer status, and provides comments at all the annual update sessions. This year GBA was a founding member of a new, independent organization called the Great Lakes Ecoregion Network (GLEN). Working with GLEN, GBA has been coordinating public comment about the state of the Great Lakes in advance of the GLWQA’s public forum in September. Leveraging the combined voices of the GLEN membership and the people who live in the Great Lakes area will provide GBA, as a key player in GLEN, with a significantly enhanced ability to influence GLWQA policies and implementation. What is GLEN and what is it doing? GLEN is a wide-ranging binational group of dedicated advocates and subject matter experts (see: https://bit.ly/ GLEN2022) working together to strengthen the GLWQA and increase public/community engagement in government policies focusing on Great Lakes water quality. Specifically, by the time this UPDATE is published, GLEN will have: ≥ Collected public comments during six webinars Making Sure Our Voices Are Heard on Great Lakes Water Quality for the Next 50 Years By Rupert Kindersley, Executive Director The GLWQA’s nine general objectives, supported by 10 annexes, that the International Joint Commission (IJC) uses to document Canadian and US government progress to protect and restore the Great Lakes. Graphic from the IJC’s 2020 TAP report (https://bit.ly/IJCTAP2020)
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