Publications

IJC publications contain both board and corporate documents, including reports, fact sheets, infographics, and presentations. Contractor reports are created on behalf of or in coordination with the IJC or its boards by a separate entity, including individuals, companies, and governments. Government reports are documents developed by US or Canadian local/provincial/state/federal government that are of interest to the IJC or board.

IJC Content

Displaying 1 - 50 of 88.

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The sixty-fourth report of the International Souris River Board.
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2023 Consultant Report and Summary Letter In 2021, the IJC’s Water Quality Board launched the Manure Nutrient Management Collaborative (Collaborative) with representatives from agriculture, conservation, business, environmental science and government leaders, working toward protection of water...
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The GLAM Committee is developing a Phase 2 strategy to guide the collection of critical information needed for the Board to evaluate the performance of Plan 2014 in response to extreme high and low water levels and the variability exacerbated by climate change and make a recommendation to the IJC on...
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In 2023 the WQB, with a team of consultants, produced a report that collected and analyzed ecological, economic, social, political, demographic, technological and cultural data to identify key drivers and trends expected to influence the Great Lakes region over the next 30 years. From this, four...
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Following up on its 2019 report “ Use of Modeling Approaches to Affect Nutrient Management Through Adaptative Management”, this IJC Great Lakes Science Advisory Board-Research Coordination Committee report focuses on progress to date in implementing the Lake Erie Nutrient Adaptive Management...
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This white paper presents the results of a collaboration between the International Joint Commission’s Health Professionals Advisory Board and the Great Lakes Beach Association to assess the binational extent, experience and effects of Great Lakes Beach Sanitary Surveys in the United States and...
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This report looks at efforts to manage nutrients in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario by assessing federal, state and provincial Domestic Action Plans and their implementation, reviewing eight previous IJC reports on nutrient management, and assessing the extent to which key IJC recommendations have been...
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This work plan identifies the priority activities to be carried out or initiated by the GLAM Committee in the period covering October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023. Tasks are focused on supporting Phase 2 of the expedited review of Plan 2014, with additional tasks to related to the Plan 2012...
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This work plan identifies the priority activities to be carried out or initiated by the GLAM Committee in the period covering October 1, 2021 through September 30, 2022. While these activities generally support the long-term adaptive management strategy (on-going review and evaluation) of regulation...
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As part of the International Rainy Lake of the Woods Watershed Board’s implementation of the IJC’s climate change guidance framework, the Adaptive Management Committee engaged water resources experts, IJC staff, and the public in a half-day, in-person workshop in Fort Frances, ON on the margins of...
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About Water Quality Board Watching Briefs The Great Lakes Water Quality Board (WQB) develops watching briefs for the purpose of summarizing significant developments, events and information in a factual manner on specific, defined topic areas. They are periodically updated and serve to keep the WQB...
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In 2021 the WQB produced a report (updated August 2023) on the topic of decommissioning nuclear power plants in the Great Lakes basin, which identified potential opportunities in the decommissioning process to reduce threats to the Great Lakes environment. The WQB recommends binational alignment of...
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The International Kootenay Lake Board of Control (IKLBC) mandate and 1938 Order of Approval for Kootenay Lake (1938 Order) established a framework that has been used to manage Kootenay Lake for over 80 years. Many significant changes have occurred during this period, including the construction and...
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Reports The Great Lakes Water Quality Board completed its third Great Lakes Regional Poll in 2021. The 2021 Great Lakes Regional Poll results provide a snapshot of Great Lakes residents' views on topics including: the importance to protect the Great Lakes environmental health and water quality, and...
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The Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management Committee (GLAM Committee) of the International Joint Commission (IJC) began Phase 1 of the expedited review of Plan 2014 in February 2020. The objective of Phase 1 was to assess flow releases under the International Lake Ontario – St...
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View related Phase 1 content, or open the PDF version below.
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This document provides the collective wisdom of the 18 member Public Advisory Group in terms of summarizing their contribution to the Phase 1 effort of the Expedited Review of Plan 2014, the challenges and limitations of the process and their recommendations for future public engagement.
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The Lake Erie–Niagara River Ice Boom reduces the amount of ice passing from Lake Erie to the Niagara River. This prevents ice blockages from interfering with hydropower production and reduces the potential of ice damage to shoreline property. The New York Power Authority (NYPA) and Ontario Power...
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Appendix to Section 6 of the Souris Study Board report - Evaluation of the Alternative Operating Plan Measures Reading Performance Indicator Plots
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The Health Professionals Advisory Board conducted a proof-of-concept pilot study to assess whether it is feasible to collect comparable, binational water quality and population health data for locations around the Great Lakes, and whether such data could be used to generate conclusions and examine...
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In 1913, a ground-breaking IJC monitoring study linked untreated sewage pollution to widespread disease in the Great Lakes. One hundred years later, the question remains whether nearshore fecal bacterial/microbial water quality is getting better or worse. While technology to prevent and track this...
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This report provides background on the IJC Climate Adaption Guidance Framework and an update on implementation by the IRLWWB and Adaptive Management Committee.
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The International Joint Commission presents its second triennial assessment of progress on Great Lakes water quality pursuant to Article 7.1 (k) of the 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). This report provides advice and recommendations to assist the federal governments to better meet...
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This paper describes a flexible strategy developed by the GLAM Committee for the on-going evaluation and improvement of the regulation plans through the use of adaptive management. Adaptive management is a structured, iterative cycle for improving actions through long-term monitoring, modelling, and...
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The Health Professionals Advisory Board (HPAB) has undertaken a human health review of selenium at the request of the International Joint Commission (IJC) and developed this technical report with the assistance of contractor Michael Kosnett. Selenium is an essential nutritional element that supports...
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The purpose of this document is to compile unbiased background information about nuclear energy production, the nuclear regulators, the decommissioning process, radioactive waste management, and status of the nuclear power facilities in the Great Lakes basin. The background report is also...
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In January 2017 the WQB produced a Climate Change and Adaption in the Great Lakes project summary that focused on the need for coordinated binational action in developing a climate adaption and resiliency strategy for the Great Lakes. The WQB undertook follow-up work to explore ways to advance...
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This report presents the recommendations of the Great Lakes Water Quality Board (WQB) to the International Joint Commission (IJC) on the topic of manure management for confined animal feeding operation practices and policies in the state and provincial jurisdictions in the Great Lakes. The...
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The IJC’s Great Lakes - St Lawrence River Adaptive Management (GLAM) Committee has prepared a review of impacts across all sectors that were affected by high water levels in 2017 as well as an assessment of how the regulation of outflows from Lake Ontario impacted levels throughout the system...
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This is a special report of the International Joint Commission’s (IJC) Great Lakes – St Lawrence River Adaptive Management (GLAM) Committee covering the hydroclimate, flows and water level conditions, as well as their impacts on multiple interests, experienced in 2017 throughout the Great Lakes-St...
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The IJC’s Health Professional Advisory Board (HPAB) was created to provide advice to the Commission and its Boards about current and emergent clinical and public health issues in the area of environmental health. The HPAB will be responsive to requests from the IJC and other Boards and stakeholders...
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Slides from the Great Lakes Water Quality Board's webinar presenting the results of its Second Binational Poll
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This report presents the recommendations of the Great Lakes Water Quality Board on the topic of how watershed management plans should be used to manage nutrient pollution in Lake Erie. The implementation of effective watershed management plans is an important tool in a holistic approach to reducing...
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Governments exist to serve the people. With this in mind, the International Joint Commission presents its first triennial assessment of progress on Great Lakes water quality pursuant to Article 7.1 (k) of the 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). This report provides advice and...
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This report provides the recommendations of the Water Quality Board to address the challenges in seeking alternatives to the use of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) as flame retardants, and avoiding the release of PBDEs during product use, recycling and disposal through the implementation of...
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Cyanotoxins are an unfortunate consequences of harmful algal blooms in fresh water systems in both Canada and the United States. This report is a literature review of the state of ecological and epidemiological science of cyanobacterial toxins with an emphasis on its relevance to conditions in the...
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The IJC has developed this draft triennial assessment report, informed by a larger staff developed technical appendix that includes fuller analyses, technical information, discussion of relevant science and references. This report and the staff technical appendix report will be revised after...
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This report provides a review of the status of international water quality objectives (WQOs) and Alert Levels for the four International Joint Commission (IJC) boards with a water quality mandate that are located outside of the Great Lakes Basin. The boards that are the focus of this report are the...
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