Human activities – and the chemical pollution, habitat destruction and water consumption they often entail – are growing sources of stress to the ecosystems of the Lakes. Some Great Lakes problems have been aggressively addressed, resulting in real and dramatic improvements; examples include decreased loadings of several persistent toxins (PCBs, DDTs, dioxins).

However, other environmental issues persist, or have become more serious. Algae are fouling many nearshore areas. Many beaches are closed because of bacterial contamination. Toxic sediments have not been adequately cleaned up. Shoreline habitat has been lost. Invasive species have disrupted natural ecosystems and impacted countless native species.

Scientists are warning that we can expect climate change to result in lower water levels in the future and to create problems such as shallower shipping lanes, decreased drinking water source quality, loss of some wetlands, changes in ecosystem structure and function, and inadequate urban infrastructure. Demands for increased water supply to serve a growing human population in the Basin – now over 40 million people – will only add to the challenge. Currently we don’t have the resources or commitment necessary to rise to these challenges.

The ECO’s reporting on the Great Lakes

2010/2011

• Engaging Solutions on the Great Lakes
• Stormwater: Our Neglected Headwaters
• Rules for Source Protection Plans Now in Place
• Ontario's Commercial Fisheries Policies
• The MISA Wastewater Regulations: A Review is Overdue
• Missing in Action: Ontario's oversight of cage aquaculture

2009/2010

• Sewage Treatment: Not Good Enough
• Ottawa’s Overflow Woes
• A Review of the Response of Ottawa to Water Quality Issues in the Ottawa River

• Dam the American Eels

2008/2009

• Water Pollution: Leachate, Sewage and Stormwater
• Mercury: A Pervasive, Persistent Poison

2007/2008

• Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem 2007
• Trends in invasive alien species
• Spill Regulations

2006/2007

• A Public Dialogue on the Future of the Great Lakes: Proceedings from the ECO-Pollution Probe Great Lakes Roundtables and Public Forums
• Living sustainably within a watershed, or Pushing beyond natural limits?
• The Clean Water Act
• The Recreational Fishery: A risky streamlining of the rules?
• Flooding Hazards: Prevent and Mitigate, or Compensate and Rehabilitate?

2005/2006

• Cleaning Up the Great Lakes: The Canada Ontario Agreement 2006 Update
• Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
• Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement

2004/2005

• Great Lakes Charter and Annex 2001
• Water Taking and Transfer Regulation under the OWRA
• Aquaculture Policies and Procedures
• Aquaculture in Georgian Bay – Water Quality and Environmental Monitoring

2003/2004

• Sewer Use Bylaws in Ontario

2002/2003

• Canada-Ontario Agreement on the Great Lakes 2002
• The Environmental Impacts of Sewage Treatment Plant Effluents
• Water Pollution at Ashbridges Bay
• Exotic Species: Invading the Great Lakes Basin

1999/2000

• Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem 2000