Search
Better Farming OntarioBetter PorkBetter Farming Prairies

Better Farming Ontario Featured Articles

Better Farming Ontario magazine is published 11 times per year. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Feature: The frustrating task of updating the Great Lakes water quality agreement

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Updating this 30-year-old U.S.-Canada agreement is a slow and unwieldy process, but it's important for agriculture to be involved

by SUSAN MANN

Alliston-area potato and cash crop farmer Chris Kowalski gets frustrated sometimes with the almost glacial pace of progress at government talks to update the Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

You can hear it in his voice when he talks about how the advisory panel he sits on spent almost half of their first meeting more than a year ago discussing procedural matters. Canadian negotiators from Environment Canada and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade consult the 17-member panel, made up of representatives from many different sectors, including cottagers, shipping, petroleum, environmental groups, anglers and hunters, two First Nations bands and farmers.

"You say something and then the whole group gets to comment on it and then you wait," he says, noting that government officials tell them at the next meeting if their comments will be included in the package being sent to the government.

But Kowalski figures its better he's there representing agriculture than for the sector to be without a voice at the table. He's the representative for AGCare (Agricultural Groups Concerned About Resources and the Environment). There are also representatives from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and the Ontario Farm Animal Council.

It's important for farmers to be on the panel because, at one meeting, a proposal was floated to include crop inputs as hazardous waste, to which Kowalski objected. "At the next meeting, they came back and said they weren't going to put the two together."

Canada and the United States signed the first Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 1972. In it, the two countries made a commitment to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem. The original agreement was revised in 1978 and amended by protocol in 1987, according to a website maintained jointly by Environment Canada and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In 2007, the U.S. and Canadian governments did a comprehensive public review of the current agreement's operation and effectiveness. Nutrient run-off from agricultural lands was identified as one of 10 areas posing challenges for the Great Lakes basin now and into the future. In the revised agreement, there could be limits put on fertilizer and crop protection product applications. Irrigation practices and water taking permits could also be affected.

Kowalski says farmers' irrigation and water permit practices, along with the possibility of limits on crop protection product applications, are in the review documents but the advisory panel hasn't discussed them yet.

As part of the review, Canadian and American officials concluded that, while there were many successes, the agreement is outdated and unable to address current threats to Great Lakes water quality.

In 2009, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the two countries would begin negotiations to amend the agreement. Those negotiations started in January 2010.

What limits on crop protection and fertilizers could be in store for agriculture as part of this agreement? Environment Canada isn't saying. Spokesman Mark Johnson says by email that the current negotiations are confidential. "We cannot comment in this regard."

Johnson writes in the email that the department also can't comment on any other farming matters that might be in the new agreement until negotiations are completed. Canadian and American officials anticipate concluding negotiations this fall.

But Kowalski would be surprised if they are done by then. "After the first meeting (in April 2010), I thought there's not a snowball's chance in hell they're going to be signing this thing by December (2011)."

Kowalski says negotiations have been extended through 2012. BF
 

Current Issue

March 2025

Better Farming Magazine

Farms.com Breaking News

Farmer Planting Decisions for 2025 Taking Shape

Thursday, March 13, 2025

As farmers across Canada prepare for the 2025 crop year, Statistics Canada says their planting decisions reflect a complex mix of factors including moisture conditions, crop rotation considerations, and market prices. Nationally, farmers are expected to plant more wheat, corn for... Read this article online

Grain Growers of Sounding the Alarm Over U.S. Tariffs

Monday, March 10, 2025

Not surprisingly, the Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) is raising concerns over the United States' decision to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian grain and grain products, a move that could jeopardize the livelihoods of family-run grain farms and lead to higher food prices for American... Read this article online

International Women’s Day – Angela Cammaert

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

As International Women’s Day approaches on March 8, Farms.com is asking women in ag about what they’d tell their younger selves about being a farmer, to give a piece of advice to young women entering the ag sector, and to highlight a woman in agriculture they consider a mentor or... Read this article online

BF logo

It's farming. And it's better.

 

a Farms.com Company

Subscriptions

Subscriber inquiries, change of address, or USA and international orders, please email: subscriptions@betterfarming.com or call 888-248-4893 x 281.


Article Ideas & Media Releases

Have a story idea or media release? If you want coverage of an ag issue, trend, or company news, please email us.

Follow us on Social Media

 

Sign up to a Farms.com Newsletter

 

DisclaimerPrivacy Policy2025 ©AgMedia Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Back To Top