great lakes RENEGOTIATION OF
by Ralph Pentland
n June 13, 2009, U.S.
Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton and
Canadian Foreign
Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon
met in Niagara Falls, Canada, and
announced plans to amend the
landmark 37-year-old Canada-U.S.
Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement to modernize it to meet new
challenges.
Residents in both countries welcomed the news—but with considerably less enthusiasm than when
they greeted the signing of the
first agreement by then-President
Richard Nixon and Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau.
Why the decline in confidence?
Blame it, in part, on success. The
promises in the 1972 agreement
and subsequent amendments in
1978 were largely met. Concentrations of contaminants such as DDT
and mercury have declined significantly in monitored fish species.
Programs to reduce algae-produc-ing phosphorous inputs through
improved sewage treatment and
O
88 Americas Quarterly FALL 2009
phosphate-detergent bans have
been as successful as similar-scale
efforts elsewhere in the world.
But today, the capacity of governments to enforce regulations that
meet the current challenges— and
their appetite to do so—is on the
decline. In both countries, there
is rising doubt about governments’
willingness and ability to fulfill
their promises.
And with reason: progress on
newer commitments set forth in a
1987 protocol has been slow, with
only three areas removed from the
list of “hot spots” over two decades.
The protocol called in fact for remedial action plans for 43 areas
of concern (designated because
they contained contaminated
sediments, inadequately treated
wastewater, non-point source pollution, inland contaminated sites,
or degraded habitat).
Today, the Great Lakes face a new
set of concerns. New toxic chemicals are showing up in fish and
sediments. Those include fire retardants, plasticizers, pharmaceuticals,
and personal-care products, some
of which may pose a risk to fish,
wildlife and people. Non-native
species are threatening to offset the
balance in biological systems and
water chemistry. Climate change
is contributing new challenges to
the sustainability and health of the
water basin.
The impact has already been
tragic. The upheaval in biological systems and water chemistry
caused by an onslaught of invasive species has created a “
biological desert”—an expanse of water
that has become uninhabitable for
many native species—across portions of southern Lake Michigan.
Lake Erie has seen a series of botulism outbreaks in fish and birds.
Many local areas around the lakes
are once again witnessing extensive outbreaks of near-shore algae
blooms, or “stinking algae.” Of 1,500
beaches surveyed in 2007, only t wo-thirds were considered suitable for
swimming 95 percent of the time.
According to the Washington DC-based Center for Public Integrity,
