ABSTRACT
Within this backdrop of public awareness and greater scientifi c evidence of the damaging eff ects of pollution to the water quality of the Great Lakes, a joint U.S.–Canada working group was formed to study the need for binational action to clean up the Great Lakes. Several years of study and two years of intense negotiation led to the signing of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement on April 15, 1972. In Canada, even prior to the signing of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, a ban on phosphates in detergents was enacted as part of the 1970 Canada Water Act. Canadian scientists at that time were confi dent that phosphorus was the limiting (most crucial) nutrient contributing to accelerated eutrophication in the Great Lakes. Ontario through its implementation of a phosphate reduction and removal of phosphorus in its sewage treatment systems convinced the U.S. to follow the same course of action. Also, the Canada Water Act authorized the establishment of federal-provincial agreements to address water quality and resource management priorities leading to the negotiation of the fi rst Canada-Ontario Agreement (COA) which specifi cally designated the responsibilities of Ontario and the federal government regarding the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (Botts and Muldoon 2005).
