April 3 Deadline: Share Your Perspectives on Great Lakes Water Quality

Canada and the United States recently graded the Great Lakes as “fair and unchanging.” Now, the International Joint Commission (IJC) is evaluating the governments’ report cards, and your input is essential. Before April 3, get involved and share your perspective on how the governments are doing to restore, protect and enhance Great Lakes water quality. Your input helps inform the IJC’s independent advice to both governments. 

Canada and the United States work together through the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement to keep the Great Lakes clean and healthy. Every three years, the IJC assesses progress towards the Agreement’s goals for drinkable, fishable, swimmable Great Lakes. This three-year process is commonly known as the Triennial Assessment of Progress (TAP).

To help the IJC’s progress assessment, you can speak up in a webinar, submit a written, audio or video comment, or complete a questionnaire to provide your comments. Visit the engagement platform GLperspectives.ijc.org to participate before the April 3 deadline. Registration to submit comments is required, free, and open to the public.

Many perspectives, many ways to engage

As part of its responsibilities under the Agreement, the IJC gathers public input on the Canadian and US governments’ 2025 Progress Report of the Parties (PROP). 

From the Great Lakes Public Forum in Chicago in early February, to its February 19 livestream broadcast, to the public input webinar series wrapping up in late March, the IJC has listened to the perspectives of dozens of people.

How have changes to Great Lakes water quality impacted the way you live, work, play and engage with the Great Lakes? One commenter highlighted the ongoing work to improve the quality of fish health and emphasized the value of fish consumption advisories to guide safe consumption. 

If you had a magic wand, what would you change to achieve progress on Great Lakes water quality? A member of the public expressed their hopes for action to address the drivers of excess nutrients and harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes.   

Three years from now, how do you hope changes to water quality will have changed the way you live, work, play and engage with the lakes? One participant shared their desire to see the progress made to date be protected and that communities continue to see improvements. 

The IJC recently launched an online questionnaire to gather your general and specific comments on the 2025 Progress Report of the Parties, the 2025 State of the Great Lakes Report (SOGL) and government programs under the Agreement. Do these government report cards effectively help you to understand the current health of the lakes and the actions governments are undertaking? 

Public input webinar series ends March 25

The IJC kicked off its virtual engagement series with a livestream broadcast on February 19. The event emphasized the importance of sharing input with the IJC, to help inform the recommendations in the forthcoming TAP report. Watch the recording on GLperspectives.ijc.org.

Next week, the IJC will be hosting its final two public input webinars to receive public comments. On March 24 at 6:00 p.m. ET, join the IJC for a conversation on restoration in Great Lakes communities. On March 25 at 11:30 a.m. ET, the webinar will focus on Great Lakes participatory science. Two invited guests will share their perspectives on each webinar theme. Audience members will have time to share their stories and comments with IJC Commissioners. 

Comments do not need to be about the webinar theme; the IJC welcomes all comments, stories and perspectives across all webinar themes in this series. Register now to share your comments. 

The IJC’s public input webinar series started on February 24, with a discussion focused on working with Great Lakes fish. The IJC also held discussions about harmful algal blooms and about engaging with Great Lakes coasts. 

Participants were asked to reflect on how changes to water quality impact the way they live, work, play and engage with the Great Lakes. Comments and reflections touched on the impacts of land use and nutrient run-off, and support for farmers; the importance of understanding fish consumption advisories to support the safe consumption of Great Lakes fish; the impacts of changes to shorelines; the impacts of invasive species on fish; and the need to focus on addressing the causes of Great Lakes water quality issues, rather than the symptoms.    

In furtherance of the IJC’s strategic priority to enhance the role of Indigenous peoples in collaborative governance, Commissioners also held a by-invitation listening session on March 12 with leadership, staff and community members of several First Nations, Tribes, and the Métis Nation of Ontario. The virtual meeting was focused on learning and listening to messages and stories that the IJC can share with governments to support progress.

Submit your pictures to the Great Lakes Photo Showcase

Do you have a phone full of snapshots of life in the Great Lakes region? Submit your photos to the IJC's Great Lakes Photo Showcase to share how you live, work, and play in the Great Lakes basin. Submissions may be featured on the IJC's website, social media, emails, or incorporated into the Commission's upcoming assessment report.

Not a photographer? Vote for your favorite photos. The top 10 photos, decided by public voting, will be featured in a Great Lakes postcard set.  

IJC at the Great Lakes Public Forum

On February 5, the IJC held its first public input session in conjunction with the Great Lakes Public Forum in Chicago, Illinois. Hosted by the US Environmental Agency and the Canada Water Agency, the Forum brought together scientists and program managers from federal, state and provincial, municipal and tribal governments and environmental organizations to share updates on the progress Canada and the United States have made in the last three years. 

At the IJC’s session on the second day of the forum, participants shared comments about the need for increased monitoring capacity and “boots on the ground”; the importance of protecting the progress governments have already made; and how land-use management and stewardship practices impact Great Lakes water quality challenges.    

Last chance to share your perspectives on Great Lakes water quality 

Development of the next Triennial Assessment of Progress report is already underway. The input received from the public will be summarized and shared with the governments of Canada and the United States as part of the report. The IJC also uses this input to inform the recommendations put forward to the governments. 

Share your perspectives and help the IJC provide advice to make progress on improving our “fair and unchanging” Great Lakes.