Contents Notes |
This State of the Great Lakes 2003 report is the fifth biennial report issued by the governments of Canada and the United States (the Parties) pursuant to the reporting requirements of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. In the State of the Great Lakes 2001 report, the Parties presented information based on a set of agreed-upon indicators from asuite assembled by Great Lakes experts. The 2003 report builds on this format, providing more up to date information.The 2003 report assesses the environmental status of each Great Lake, the St. Lawrence River, and the St.Clair River-Lake St. Clair-Detroit River Ecosystem, as well as provides assessments on 43 of approximately 80 indicators proposed by the Parties. These particular indicators were selected because basinwide data or data available for a portion of the basin were readily available. A full description of the entire suite of Great Lakes indicators can be found in the Selection of Indicators for Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem Health, Version 4, at http://www.binational.net. The conclusion of this State of the Great Lakes 2003 report is that the status of the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem is mixed, based on Lake by Lake and basinwide assessments of 43 indicators. |