Test Your Knowledge of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

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Results

Q1: True or false: Since first signed in 1972, the Agreement not been updated.

Your answer: False

Correct. The Agreement has been updated five times over the past 53 years. Canada and the United States first signed the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in April 1972. The two governments negotiated a new Agreement in 1978. Canada and the United States amended the Agreement in 1983, 1987, and most recently in 2012. 

Results

Q1: True or false: Since first signed in 1972, the Agreement not been updated.

Your answer: True

False. The Agreement has been updated five times over the past 53 years. Canada and the United States first signed the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in April 1972. The two governments negotiated a new Agreement in 1978. Canada and the United States amended the Agreement in 1983, 1987, and most recently in 2012. 

Q2 True or false: The Agreement a pact, not a law.

Your answer: True

Correct. The Agreement is a pact. As signatories, or “the Parties,” Canada and the United States are responsible to achieve their commitments to work toward their shared goals—the Agreement’s nine general objectives. The Agreement is a framework for the two countries to coordinate and cooperate. But it’s up to each country to implement the Agreement through their respective policy efforts. Each country takes their own actions, through policy like the US Clean Water Act, the Canada-Ontario Agreement, and through national, state, provincial and regional programs, like the US Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Canada Freshwater Ecosystem Initiative. 

Q2 True or false: The Agreement a pact, not a law.

Your answer: False

True. The Agreement is a pact. As signatories, or “the Parties,” Canada and the United States are responsible to achieve their commitments to work toward their shared goals—the Agreement’s nine general objectives. The Agreement is a framework for the two countries to coordinate and cooperate. But it’s up to each country to implement the Agreement through their respective policy efforts. Each country takes their own actions, through policy like the US Clean Water Act, the Canada-Ontario Agreement, and through national, state, provincial and regional programs, like the US Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Canada Freshwater Ecosystem Initiative. 

Q3 True or false: Dozens of agencies help guide the Agreement through the Great Lakes Executive Committee.

Your answer: True

Correct. The GLWQA establishes a Great Lakes Executive Committee (GLEC) to help coordinate and monitor activities and programs to achieve the Agreement’s objectives. On behalf of the Parties, US Environmental Protection Agency and the Canadian Water Agency serve as co-chairs and invite representatives from federal, state and provincial, and municipal government agencies, tribal, First Nations and Métis governments, watershed management agencies, and other local public agencies to serve as members.  

The International Joint Commission (IJC) is not a GLEC member, it is an observer, attending GLEC meetings to stay informed and providing updates on the Commission’s recent work in the Great Lakes. Non-governmental organizations can also be recognized as observers. 

Q3 True or false: Dozens of agencies help guide the Agreement through the Great Lakes Executive Committee.

Your answer: False

True. The GLWQA establishes a Great Lakes Executive Committee (GLEC) to help coordinate and monitor activities and programs to achieve the Agreement’s objectives. On behalf of the Parties, US Environmental Protection Agency and the Canadian Water Agency serve as co-chairs and invite representatives from federal, state and provincial, and municipal government agencies, tribal, First Nations and Métis governments, watershed management agencies, and other local public agencies to serve as members.  

The International Joint Commission (IJC) is not a GLEC member, it is an observer, attending GLEC meetings to stay informed and providing updates on the Commission’s recent work in the Great Lakes. Non-governmental organizations can also be recognized as observers.   

Q4 True or false: The Agreement takes an ecosystem management approach to water quality.

Your answer: True

Correct. Using an ecosystem management approach, actions under the Agreement should consider the health of the whole ecosystem—air, water, land and living organisms, including humans. For example, Objective IV outlines that the waters of the Great Lakes should “be free from pollutants in quantities or concentrations that could be harmful to human health, wildlife, or aquatic organisms…”. The lakes serve as a source of drinking water for millions of people and support a US$6 trillion regional economy, which makes protecting human health and wellbeing, as well as water quality, of vital importance.

Q4 True or false: The Agreement takes an ecosystem management approach to water quality.

Your answer: False

True. Using an ecosystem management approach, actions under the Agreement should consider the health of the whole ecosystem—air, water, land and living organisms, including humans. For example, Objective IV outlines that the waters of the Great Lakes should “be free from pollutants in quantities or concentrations that could be harmful to human health, wildlife, or aquatic organisms…”. The lakes serve as a source of drinking water for millions of people and support a US$6 trillion regional economy, which makes protecting human health and wellbeing, as well as water quality, of vital importance. 

Q5 True or false: The Agreement deals with water levels and water withdrawals.

Your answer: False

Correct. The GLWQA is focused on issues of water quality, not water quantity.  

However, the IJC does work on Great Lakes water quantity matters. Through the Protection of the Waters of the Great Lakes reports, the IJC examines how the use, management and policies affect the levels, flows and sustainability of the Great Lakes water supply. The IJC also developed Plan 2014, originally designed to provide more natural variations of water levels of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, and is undertaking an expedited review of how the plan could address extreme high or low water levels.  

There are international and national agreements that address Great Lakes water quantity issues. The Great Lakes Basin Compact, as agreed by the Great Lakes states, created the Great Lakes Commission to provide recommendations on stabilizing lake levels and diversion of water to and from the basin, among other responsibilities. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resource Agreement commits to cooperation and collaboration on water withdrawals at a state/provincial level.  

Q5 True or false: The Agreement deals with water levels and water withdrawals.

Your answer: True

False. The GLWQA is focused on issues of water quality, not water quantity.  

However, the IJC does work on Great Lakes water quantity matters. Through the Protection of the Waters of the Great Lakes reports, the IJC examines how the use, management and policies affect the levels, flows and sustainability of the Great Lakes water supply. The IJC also developed Plan 2014, originally designed to provide more natural variations of water levels of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, and is undertaking an expedited review of how the plan could address extreme high or low water levels.  

There are international and national agreements that address Great Lakes water quantity issues. The Great Lakes Basin Compact, as agreed by the Great Lakes states, created the Great Lakes Commission to provide recommendations on stabilizing lake levels and diversion of water to and from the basin, among other responsibilities. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resource Agreement commits to cooperation and collaboration on water withdrawals at a state/provincial level.  

Q6 True or false: The Agreement includes the St. Lawrence River.

Your answer: False

Both! (This was a trick question.) The GLWQA does include the St. Lawrence River, but only up to the international boundary. Between the eastern point of Lake Ontario in the Thousand Islands region and around Cornwall, Ontario and Akwesasne, New York, the St. Lawrence River makes up the Canada-U.S. international boundary. While acknowledging that Great Lakes water may affect the St. Lawrence River’s downstream water quality, the Agreement focuses coordinating water quality efforts upstream.

Q6 True or false: The Agreement includes the St. Lawrence River.

Your answer: True

Both! (This was a trick question.) The GLWQA does include the St. Lawrence River, but only up to the international boundary. Between the eastern point of Lake Ontario in the Thousand Islands region and around Cornwall, Ontario and Akwesasne, New York, the St. Lawrence River makes up the Canada-U.S. international boundary. While acknowledging that Great Lakes water may affect the St. Lawrence River’s downstream water quality, the Agreement focuses coordinating water quality efforts upstream.

Q7 True or false: The IJC does NOT writes the State of the Great Lakes report (SOGL) and the Progress Report of the Parties (PROP).

Your answer: True

Correct. The governments of Canada and United States, with support from GLEC members, write the SOGL and PROP. As the name suggests, the SOGL provides an overview of the status and trends of the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem, based on a variety of indicators. The PROP serves as a summary of the binational and domestic programs, policies and activities undertaken to achieve the GLWQA objectives. These two reports serve as the Parties’ review of their progress over a three-year period towards achieving the GLWQA objectives.

In its capacity as an impartial, third-party advisory, the IJC monitors and provides recommendations on the Parties’ progress. Every three years, the IJC produces the Triennial Assessment of Progress Report, also known as the TAP. The last TAP report detailed progress from 2020 to 2022. The next assessment will focus on 2023-2025. 

Q7 True or false: The IJC does NOT writes the State of the Great Lakes report (SOGL) and the Progress Report of the Parties (PROP).

Your answer: False

True. The governments of Canada and United States, with support from GLEC members, write the SOGL and PROP. As the name suggests, the SOGL provides an overview of the status and trends of the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem, based on a variety of indicators. The PROP serves as a summary of the binational and domestic programs, policies and activities undertaken to achieve the GLWQA objectives. These two reports serve as the Parties’ review of their progress over a three-year period towards achieving the GLWQA objectives.

In its capacity as an impartial, third-party advisory, the IJC monitors and provides recommendations on the Parties’ progress. Every three years, the IJC produces the Triennial Assessment of Progress Report, also known as the TAP. The last TAP report detailed progress from 2020 to 2022. The next assessment will focus on 2023-2025. 

Q8 True or false: The public can provide input to help assess progress.

Your answer: True

Correct. As part of the TAP, the IJC collects and provides a summary of public input on the Parties’ progress. The IJC is preparing a series of virtual engagements and survey to hear from you on Great Lakes water quality.  

In the coming weeks, the Canadian and US governments will publish the 2025 PROP and SOGL to binational.net. We encourage you to read the reports when available and prepare your feedback for us.  

Register now for information on upcoming engagement activities and opportunities to provide your perspective on Great Lakes water quality. We want to hear from you.

Q8 True or false: The public can provide input to help assess progress.

Your answer: False

True. As part of the TAP, the IJC collects and provides a summary of public input on the Parties’ progress. The IJC is preparing a series of virtual engagements and survey to hear from you on Great Lakes water quality.  

In the coming weeks, the Canadian and US governments will publish the 2025 PROP and SOGL to binational.net. We encourage you to read the reports when available and prepare your feedback for us.  

Register now in the https://glperspectives.ijc.org/ engagement platform for information on upcoming engagement activities, the survey and other opportunities to comment. We want to hear from you.