Sustaining Lake Superior

Sustaining Lake Superior

Author: Nancy Langston

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2017-10-24

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 0300231660

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A compelling exploration of Lake Superior’s conservation recovery and what it can teach us in the face of climate change Lake Superior, the largest lake in the world, has had a remarkable history, including resource extraction and industrial exploitation that caused nearly irreversible degradation. But in the past fifty years it has experienced a remarkable recovery and rebirth. In this important book, leading environmental historian Nancy Langston offers a rich portrait of the lake’s environmental and social history, asking what lessons we should take from the conservation recovery as this extraordinary lake faces new environmental threats. In her insightful exploration, Langston reveals hope in ecosystem resilience and the power of community advocacy, noting ways Lake Superior has rebounded from the effects of deforestation and toxic waste wrought by mining and paper manufacturing. Yet, despite the lake’s resilience, threats persist. Langston cautions readers regarding new mining interests and persistent toxic pollutants that are mobilizing with climate change.


The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

Author: National Research Council (U.S.)

Publisher: National Academies

Published: 1985

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13:

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Of findings and recommendations ; Background ; Great Lakes Basin and the 1978 agreement ; Enrichment ; Toxic contaminants ; Institutional arrangements ; Ecosystem approach and sustainable development -- Great Lakes as a system and its binational accords ; Physical and biological characteristics ; Great Lakes studies, 1912-1951 ; Background to the 1972 agreement ; 1978 agreement -- Ecosystem approach: an integrative theme of the Great Lakes water quality agreement ; Roots of the ecosystem approach ; Emergence of the ecosystem approach ; 1978 Great Lakes water quality agreement and the ecosystem approach ; Definitions and boundaries of the system ; Interdependencies of the subsystems -- Nutrients issues ; Introduction ; Control objectives and current condition of lakes ; Rationale for phosphorus control ; Phosphorus control programs ; Municipal sewage sources ; Industrial and nonpoint sources ; Problems in the nearshore area ; Monitoring and surveillance -- Toxic contaminants issues ; Introduction ; 1978 agreement goals and objectives ; Sources of toxic chemicals in the lakes ; direct industrial and municipal discharges ; Inputs from runoff and waterways ; In-place pollutants ; Groundwater ; Atmospheric deposition ; Significance of toxic chemicals being detected ; Significance for human health ; Significance to ecosystem health ; Progress in remediation ; Actions on specific toxic substances ; Hazardous wastes ; Aquatic ecosystem objectives ; Areas of concern ; Data, modeling, and risk assessment ; Monitoring, surveillance, and the problem of incomplete data ; Transport and fate modeling for toxic chemicals ; Role of tissue and sediment banks ; Toxicity testing and risk assessment ; Toxicity testing for evaluating human health risks ; Limitations of risk assessments ; Toxic chemicals management strategies ; Alternative approaches and principles for management of toxic waste management -- Institutional arrangements under the agreement ; Introduction ; Joint institutions under the agreement ; History and organization ; Existing joint institutions ; Present responsibilities ; Data collection, analysis and distribution ; Advice and recommendations by the joint institutions ; Assistance in the coordination of joint activities ; Investigations ; Public information ; New responsibility- Dispute resolution ; Other binational arrangements in the Great Lakes ; Federal, provincial, and state governments ; Parties ; State and provincial governments -- Ecosystem approach and sustainable development ; Introduction ; Depth and breadth of the problems: regional scope ; Intergenerational equity ; Information base: relationship to efficacy, cost-effectiveness and equity ; Economic significance ; Early warnings and surprises ; Network of Great Lakes ecosystem researchers and managers ; Deepening the understanding of societal components of the basin ; Further exploration of reforms -- References -- Glossary -- Abbreviations -- Appendixes -- Text of the 1978 Great Lakes water quality agreement -- Table: progress on commitments -- Subcontracts -- Biographical sketches of committee members.


Advice to Governments on Their Review of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

Advice to Governments on Their Review of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

Author: International Joint Commission

Publisher:

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13:

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Today, however, other concepts need to be incorporated into the Agreement so that it can facilitate contemporary efforts to protect and restore The purpose of the Agreement is to "restore and the water quality of the Great Lakes system and maintain" the water quality of the Great Lakes. [...] The following are four areas the Commission to the development of the Agreement in the 1970s suggests be considered for the purpose and scope and its amendment in 1987:. [...] For purposes of the Agreement, the Commission However, the Commission believes firmly that is of the view that a definition of the ecosystem adopting the ecosystem approach should not lead approach should be developed that is appropriate to to broadening the purpose of the Agreement. [...] This the objectives of the Agreement and the conditions means that the scope of the new Agreement - that in the basin. [...] Because the Commission basinwide consultations conducted by is recommending that the Agreement be endorsed the Commission, of the triennial progress by the U. S. Congress and the Parliament of reports under the Binational Action Plan, Canada, it is of the view that its role should be set out in a formal reference pursuant to Article IX of and (b) the Commission's independent the Boundary Waters Tr.


Perspectives on Ecosystem Management for the Great Lakes

Perspectives on Ecosystem Management for the Great Lakes

Author: Lynton K. Caldwell

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 1988-07-08

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 9780887067662

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In 1978 Canada and the United States concluded an agreement for the protection and enhancement of water quality in the Great Lakes based on the ecosystem approach to management. Since ratification of this agreement, little progress has been made in practical application of this concept to basin-wide management for the Great Lakes. At the same time public concern for the quality of the Great Lakes and their future has risen dramatically. As a result, the need has arisen for a practical, authoritative explanation of the ecosystem concept. This volume, written by highly qualified authorities, addresses these important ecological, political, and economic issues in a systematic and informative manner. In this study, the ecosystem concept and its objectives are defined. The institutional structure that has evolved for governance of the Great Lakes, the need for a more effective governance structure, and prospects for rehabilitation of the Great Lakes Waters are crucial issues considered. The management question is the single most important policy question with respect to the Great Lakes and this is the only study available that brings together all pertinent information and provides steps for new and constructive management of the Great Lakes.