Download Great Lakes, Great Responsibilities

Great Lakes
Great Responsibilities
Dr. Gail Krantzberg, Director
Centre for Engineering and Public Policy,
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario
[email protected]
History of binational shared
management of the Great Lakes
 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty
 1960’s Lake Erie proclaimed “dead”
 1972, Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
calls for limits to phosphorus loadings
 GLWQA of 1978 calls for virtual elimination
of PTS
 GLWQA in 1987 to call for other initiatives
such as Remedial Action Plans and Lakewide
Management Plans
Have we reached
The Tipping Point?
“The Great Lakes are
deteriorating at a rate
unprecedented in their
recorded history and are near
the tipping point of ecosystemwide breakdown.”
– Alfred Beeton,
former director of the Great Lakes.
Environmental Research Laboratory,
2005.
Symptoms of deficits:
Ongoing, re-emerging and emerging
challenges to the Integrity
of the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem
$Billions Needed
Aging infrastructure:
unresolved
$$$ still needed
Cleaning up Legacy Pollutants
The New PCBs?
TOXIC CHEMICALS
Recurring surprises
AIR QUALITY/ SPRAWL: NOT CONQUERED
More cars traveling longer distances
CAR HABITAT
Aquatic Invasive Species
Billions of dollars in damages
$15-45
Million per
year for
control
An open door
policy to
invaders?
A
changing
climate
WE HAVE A CHOICE
Traditional impediments to
progress in the implementation of
the GLWQA:
 lack of institutional accountability and
responsibility;
 lack of inclusion and engagement of
constituent stakeholders; and
 lack of distributive (i.e., coordinated,
flexible, adaptive) management and
leadership
From 2006-7, stakeholders around the
basin reviewed the existing GLWQA and
recommended it be revised
“The key outcome of the public review
was that, while there have been many
successes; the GLWQA is outdated and
unable to address current threats to Great
Lakes water quality.”
Other Review Findings
 Need language association with climate change,
aquatic invasive species and urbanization.
 Critical need to reform governance for active
engagement of the large cross section of society
that could be more actively engaged in
implementation
 Need more meaningful public and partner
participation in the development and
implementation of a renewed Agreement
The Great Lakes Water
Quality Protocol of 2012
The good news
 The 2012 Procol was signed September
7 2012.
 Senior officials from EC, DFAIT, the
U.S. Department of State and the U.S.
EPA discussed governance in a broad
context including place-based
approaches to the nearshore
environment
Annexes
1. Areas of Concern
2. Lakewide Management
3. Chemicals of Mutual Concern
4. Nutrients
5. Discharge from vessels
6. Aquatic Invasive Species
7. Habitat and Species
8. Groundwater
9. Climate change impacts
10. Science
Governance
Solutions
Build communities that share a
common purpose of place-based
protection and revitalization.
Highlight the importance of the
lakes invoking the economic
and social benefits associated
with Great Lakes protection and
revitalization.
Campaign for Great Lakes excellence
 Demonstrate that the Great Lakes are of national
significance in each country to counter the notion
that any related programs are regional in nature.
 Build national strategies for issues of importance
to the Great Lakes and finance such prevention
and remedial programs in a national context.
– for example, a national program for water infrastructure
for which the Great Lakes region would be allocated a
proportion of the funds.
We need answers, for our
Great Lakes Future
 Who is accountable to the promises made?
 What are the roles for municipal leaders,
first nations/ tribes, business, academe?
 How do we stop reacting to new variations
on a theme?
 How does the Great Lakes community
engage in solutions?
A Personal Opinion
 Enhance and sustain our Great Lakes through
defining and implementing sustainable
communities
 Go beyond governments to determine a path
forward for implementation to ensure civic
engagement and human stewardship
 Renovate responsibilities and
accountability for the Great Lakes in the
renewed Agreement
 Measure governance capacity, what are
the indicators that help us collectively
move towards Great Lakes resilience?
Worth Protecting
Thanks for Making the Lakes Great
Questions?
[email protected]