Great Lakes Charter of 1985

Great Lakes

Bordering the Great Lakes whether one is in Canada or the United States is both a responsibility and a privilege. A privilege due to the fact that we and so many other millions of people are close to loads of sports and recreation, but more so for the abundant fresh water supply. A responsibility for a larger reason-this is the part where the responsibility of maintaining these waters for life and for leisure comes into play. Although it may be hard to believe that many consider saving our ecosystems a chore or not a top priority, lawmakers along with many different advocates and citizens surrounding the region have made lots of preservation possible and achievable.

Over the years, many organizations have attempted to speak out against infecting our waterways with unnecessary waste and have succeeded. Now that many cleanups have occurred, people believe that a conversation phase is now upon us-especially with our region-the Great Lakes. Signed in 1985 right here in Milwaukee, The Great Lakes Charter was a huge stepping stone in the preservation and management of the water supply not just in the actual lakes, but within the entire Great Lakes Basin. The ten signatories of the Charter include Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario. The original documentation included a couple different proposals for diverting large sums of water completely out of the basin. At the same time, it had proposals for keeping large water that's already in the basin, too. Overall, the states and provinces wanted preservation and protection of the lakes no matter what was going in and what was coming out. The Governors of the states and provinces are the main actors in this Charter because they sat down and came together as a team in order to protect their environment for future generations. These are the same ideas that environmental actors incorporate into their work. Even though the agreement was signed back in 1985 by Governors who are no longer in power, there have been quite a few revisions and follow up treaties put in place by current government. They were partially influenced by these almost "do or die" sort of actors in environmental organizations. Good thing their determination is rubbing off on political powers! I believe water quality is essential and necessary for everyone in the Great Lakes region.


It has proven effective-the Great Lakes Charter has-by leading to other stepping stones like the Great Lakes Compact in 2008 and the St. Lawrence River Water Resources Agreement in '05.

http://www.greatlakes.org/Document.Doc?id=148
-This document is the actual Great Lakes Charter that includes all the necessary information to effectively interpret the international agreement

http://www.protectourgreatlakes.org/timeline/
-This website link is from the same website as my first blog post-it serves as great timeline with the Charter being the first real starting point in preservation projects all along the Great Lakes region


This was all of the land (2 provinces (Quebec not marked on this map) & 8 states) that signed the Charter agreement back in 1985