WC148 MayJune 2026 - Magazine - Page 20
CONSERVATION
Cleaning up the Great Lakes
Is Canada pulling its weight?
BY MICHAEL GOFFIN
HE GREAT LAKES are an immense natural resource,
containing 20 per cent of global fresh surface water, important environmentally and to the economies, health and
wellbeing of Canadians and Americans alike. Restoring
and protecting these shared waters requires the combined
efforts of Canada and the United States, guided by the Great Lakes
Water Quality Agreement, which establishes common approaches
and objectives for key priorities. Chief among these are: cleaning
up contaminated sediments that have accumulated, in some cases,
over more than a century of polluting past practices and continue
to release mercury, PCBs and PAHs into Great Lakes waters; eliminating phosphorus pollution which supports toxic blue-green algae
development and has created a “dead zone” of oxygen depleted
waters in Lake Erie stretching over 10,000 square kilometers; and
preventing entry of Invasive (Asian) Carp into the Great Lakes,
which are capable of collapsing the food web and destroying commercial, recreational and subsistence fishing. So, is Canada pulling
its weight in resolving these issues?
On January 20, 2026, Canada and the U.S. released the 4th
Progress Report of the Parties under the Great Lakes Water Quality
Agreement. The report provides a detailed list of projects completed in each country over the past three years to clean up the most
degraded locations in the Great Lakes—termed Areas of Concern
(AOCs), manage lake wide issues, eliminate harmful chemicals,
reduce nutrient pollution, prevent discharges from vessels, stop the
spread of invasive species, retore fish and wildlife habitat, manage
contaminated groundwater, and provide the science necessary to
track progress and detect emerging issues. Notably, since 2022 the
U.S. has completed the remediation of 11 AOCs, while Canada
has completed remedial actions in five; the U.S. has cleaned up
440,000 cubic meters of contaminated sediment, while Canada
has remediated 74,000 cubic meters; and the U.S. has reduced
phosphorus pollution from farms by 200,000 kilograms—data on
Canadian phosphorus pollution reduction is not provided. Objectively, based on information provided in the Progress Report of the
Parties, U.S. actions to clean up the Great Lakes exceed those of
Canada by a considerable margin.
Michael Goffin is the Bruce Water Policy
Fellow Executive in Residence at Toronto
Metropolitan University.
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WATER C AN ADA • M AY/JUNE 2026
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