Evolution of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
by Lee Botts and Paul Muldoon
Michigan State University Press, 2005 eISBN: 978-1-60917-000-4 | Paper: 978-0-87013-752-5 Library of Congress Classification TD223.3.B68 2005 Dewey Decimal Classification 363.73945260977
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Water quality concerns are not new to the Great Lakes. They emerged early in the 20th century, in 1909, and matured in 1972 and 1978. They remain a prominent part of today’s conflicted politics and advancing industrial growth. The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909, became a model to the world for environmental management across an international boundary. Evolution of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement recounts this historic binational relationship, an agreement intended to protect the fragile Great Lakes.
One strength of the agreement is its flexibility, which includes a requirement for periodic review that allows modification as problems are solved, conditions change, or scientific research reveals new problems. The first progress was made in the 1970s in the area of eutrophication, the process by which lakes gradually age, which normally takes thousands of years to progress, but is accelerated by modern water pollution. The binational agreement led to the successful lowering of phosphorus levels that saved Lake Erie and prevented accelerated eutrophication in the rest of the Great Lakes ecosystem. Another major success at the time was the identification and lowering of the levels of toxic contaminants that cause major threats to human and wildlife health, from accumulating PCBs and other persistent organic pollutants
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Lee Botts is founder of the Lake Michigan Federation. Botts considers her continuing role as a mentor to young persons who care about the environment to be most important, but the Great Lakes remain her great passion. She is an activist who has worked for more than 30 years both inside and outside government to address crucial national environmental problems. Currently, Lee is president of the Indiana Dunes Environmental Learning Center at Lake Michigan, a public/private partnership between the not for profit Learning Center and the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, which provides innovative education programs for elementary and high school students.
Paul Muldoon is the Executive Director and counsel at the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA). Muldoon is the author of four books and numerous articles. He is the coeditor of Canadian Environmental Law Reports.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. The Canada/United States Partnership for the Great Lakes ........... 1
2. Origin of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement ............... .9
3. Evolution of the Agreement from 1972 to 1978 ..................... 27
4. Negotiation of the 1978 Great Lakes Agreement and Its Evolution .... 51
5. Evolution of the Great Lakes Regime from 1987 to 1997 ............. 89
6. The Continuing Evolution of the Great Lakes Regime
from 1997 to 2005 ............................................. 137
7. Past Successes and New Challenges ............................. 187
8. A Vision for Renewal of the Great Lakes Regime .................. 219
APPENDICES
1. Persons Interviewed or Consulted, or Who Participated
in the Wingspread Conference . ............................... 239
2. Recomendations from Reports on the Great Lakes Regime ......... 241
3. 1972 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement ...................... 245
4. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978 (Revised) ............ 255
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Evolution of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
by Lee Botts and Paul Muldoon
Michigan State University Press, 2005 eISBN: 978-1-60917-000-4 Paper: 978-0-87013-752-5
Water quality concerns are not new to the Great Lakes. They emerged early in the 20th century, in 1909, and matured in 1972 and 1978. They remain a prominent part of today’s conflicted politics and advancing industrial growth. The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909, became a model to the world for environmental management across an international boundary. Evolution of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement recounts this historic binational relationship, an agreement intended to protect the fragile Great Lakes.
One strength of the agreement is its flexibility, which includes a requirement for periodic review that allows modification as problems are solved, conditions change, or scientific research reveals new problems. The first progress was made in the 1970s in the area of eutrophication, the process by which lakes gradually age, which normally takes thousands of years to progress, but is accelerated by modern water pollution. The binational agreement led to the successful lowering of phosphorus levels that saved Lake Erie and prevented accelerated eutrophication in the rest of the Great Lakes ecosystem. Another major success at the time was the identification and lowering of the levels of toxic contaminants that cause major threats to human and wildlife health, from accumulating PCBs and other persistent organic pollutants
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Lee Botts is founder of the Lake Michigan Federation. Botts considers her continuing role as a mentor to young persons who care about the environment to be most important, but the Great Lakes remain her great passion. She is an activist who has worked for more than 30 years both inside and outside government to address crucial national environmental problems. Currently, Lee is president of the Indiana Dunes Environmental Learning Center at Lake Michigan, a public/private partnership between the not for profit Learning Center and the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, which provides innovative education programs for elementary and high school students.
Paul Muldoon is the Executive Director and counsel at the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA). Muldoon is the author of four books and numerous articles. He is the coeditor of Canadian Environmental Law Reports.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. The Canada/United States Partnership for the Great Lakes ........... 1
2. Origin of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement ............... .9
3. Evolution of the Agreement from 1972 to 1978 ..................... 27
4. Negotiation of the 1978 Great Lakes Agreement and Its Evolution .... 51
5. Evolution of the Great Lakes Regime from 1987 to 1997 ............. 89
6. The Continuing Evolution of the Great Lakes Regime
from 1997 to 2005 ............................................. 137
7. Past Successes and New Challenges ............................. 187
8. A Vision for Renewal of the Great Lakes Regime .................. 219
APPENDICES
1. Persons Interviewed or Consulted, or Who Participated
in the Wingspread Conference . ............................... 239
2. Recomendations from Reports on the Great Lakes Regime ......... 241
3. 1972 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement ...................... 245
4. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978 (Revised) ............ 255
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE