Response to the draft international Agreement to Implement the Great Lakes Charter Annex

August 29, 2005 marked the last day that the public could submit official comments on the Great Lakes Charter implementing agreements. These draft agreements - one between the Great Lakes States and one between those States, Ontario, and Quebec - are intended to govern who gets to take water out of the Great Lakes Basin, when, where, and under what conditions. Lake Ontario Waterkeeper submitted a local perspective to the Ontario government, in support of the more comprehensive statement drafted by the Great Lakes members of Waterkeeper Alliance. These are those submissions:

Formal comment submitted to Ministry of Natural Resources by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper ...

For the last century, Canada, the United States, and the individual Great Lakes states and provinces have struggled to regulate water levels and to influence each others? laws and policies on water diversions. To some extent, every agreement signed has been a compromise. Regardless of political pressures, Ontario?s fundamental objective must be to ensure that the integrity of the Great Lakes is better protected off after the agreement is signed. With three changes, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper believes that the Draft Agreement will achieve this goal.

Click here to read Lake Ontario Waterkeeper's entire commentary.

Formal comment submitted to Ontario and the Council of Great Lakes Governors by Waterkeeper Alliance, on behalf of Great Lakes Waterkeepers ...

Great Lakes Waterkeeper programs have a unique local and bi-national perspective on protection of the Great Lakes, and are united in their support for a final agreement governing the future management of Great Lakes water that is truly protective of the Great Lakes. While we recognize that the Great Lakes Basin Water Resources Compact (?Compact?) and the Great Lakes Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement (?Agreement?), collectively, (?Draft Agreements? or ?2005 Draft?) are an improvement from the first drafts released in July of 2004, Waterkeeper Alliance and its Great Lake member programs have several concerns with the Draft Agreements.

Click here to read Waterkeeper Alliance's entire commentary.