Organization calls for renewed commitment to Great Lakes health 50 years after signing of Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

Two drake Mallard ducks fly over Lake Erie near the Cleveland shoreline on April 1, 2014, in Cleveland.(Mark Duncan / AP Photo)

The Great Lakes Ecoregion Network (GLEN) is calling on the Canadian and United States governments to renew and strengthen their commitment to water quality and healthy ecosystems.

GLEN, a new initiative to engage members of the Great Lakes environmental community on issues related to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA), is issuing the call for better protection of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin as the signing of the agreement celebrates its 50th anniversary.

The GLWQA was first signed by U.S. President Richard Nixon and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre-Elliot Trudeau on April 15 1972, a “groundbreaking step by the two nations to jointly manage a shared resource.”

The agreement led to strategies to help Lake Erie and tackle toxic pollution throughout the basin, a news release from GLEN says.

Now, GLEN says cooperative action is needed to address threats to the basin such as harmful algal blooms, climate change, and new toxic substances as well as continuing to resolve issues that have not had the necessary attention over the last 50 years in the Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River basins.

The federal governments of Canada and the U.S. will host a public forum on the agreement in September.

GLEN says this is a time to celebrate past successes and lessons learned as well as affirming priorities for future action so the agreement can “continue to drive progress on shared solutions for Great Lakes water quality.”