This new Agreement places an emphasis on studying aquatic ecology to develop solutions to problems of aquatic invasive species and habitat protection. The Agreement also comments on the impact climate change has on the Great Lakes.

Some environmental activists are critical of the GLWQA-4 as being a belated recognition of climate change, that is too soft on detailing the impact of climate change on the hydrogeology of Great Lakes. They believe GLWQA-4 fails to contain sufficient remedial measures and lacks specific goals to combat changing environmental conditions. By contrast prior versions of the Agreement set very specific objectives and measurable goals such as establishing unacceptable concentration levels for mercury, lead and certain pesticides in the lakes.

Proponents of this environmental accord argue that it is an appropriate response to tackling the problems of; invasive species, pollution and climate change. They specifically point to a positive history of improving lake conditions. For example, when GLWQA was initially signed forty years ago, Lake Erie was in a significant state of decline but the lake has vastly improved, which means a reduction in phosphorous levels in Lake Erie.

These bi-national efforts to protect the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the waters of the Great Lakes are overseen by the International Joint Commission (IJC) which advises the U.S. EPA and Environment Canada on establishing policy, science and action. The International Joint Commission shares information and assess progress on their priority issues of protecting nearshore environment, aquatic invasive species, habitat degradation and impact of climate change. These priorities are the focus of IJC’s continuing efforts to limit threats to public health and the environment in the Great Lakes Basin from harmful algae, toxic chemicals and discharges from vessels. Lake conditions will continue to be monitored and studied with progress reports made public every three years, at the direction of the IJC.

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News this week of Toledo’s drinking water woes highlighted what has become an intractable problem: the amount of phosphorous heading into Lake Erie.

Lake Erie was infamously foul in the early 1970’s when lawmakers targeted sewage treatment plants and legislated the use of different chemicals, markedly decreasing the phosphorous output into the Lake. Phosphorous was contributing to clusters of algae, called algae blooms, which were choking off the lake, producing toxins that in turn killed species, endangered drinking water and made the lake a turn-off for tourists. The 1970’s efforts brought great success and the Lake truly was revived.

And then phosphorous reared its ugly head again. This time, the contaminant wasn’t necessarily a local concern, and the villain wasn’t large manufacturing. Now the phosphorous that has invaded Lake Erie has been traveling from the shores of the Maumee River, where the phosphorous has been the product of runoff from fertilizers used in farms.

So, in June of 2014, the Ohio legislature enacted small reforms, including training farmers on using less phosphorous and requiring certification prior to applying commercial fertilizers containing phosphorous. The law will not take effect until 2017 and is not aimed at enforcing a reduction of phosphorous use, but in preventing its runoff into waterways, particularly those that feed into Lake Erie. The law also excluded a clause banning the use of manure on fields that are covered with snow or ice, a practice that environmental activists maintain contributes to phosphorous-based runoff.

So, that was the plan in 2014.

Fast forward to this week when the Lake hit a crisis. The weather pattern resulted in a collection of algae blooms in Lake Erie, the shallowest of the Great Lakes. The resultant blooms impacted the drinking water, cutting off the taps to Toledo and smaller communities.

What new regulation will need to be proposed to prevent future water crises, and more importantly, to return to the halcyon days of the 1980’s at the shores of Lake Erie?

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