ABSTRACT
The purpose of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) between the U.S. and Canada is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the waters of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem (U.S. and Canada, 1987). The U.S. and Canada have spent billions of dollars and uncounted hours attempting to reverse the effects of cultural eutrophication, toxic chemical pollution, overfishing, habitat destruction, introduced species, and other insults to the ecosystem. Environmental management agencies are now being asked to demonstrate that past remediation programs have been successful and that the results of future or continuing programs will be commensurate with the resources expended (financial and personnel time). The demand for high quality data is forcing environmental and natural resource agencies, which operate with limited resources, to be more selective and more efficient in the collection and analysis of data.
