Lake Ontario

IJC meeting to focus on sewage overflows and other water quality problems affecting the Great Lakes

Fish on pharmaceuticals, alien invaders and poo in the Great Lakes will be on the agenda  Wednesday and Thursday (Oct. 7-8) when the International Joint Commission hold its  biennial meeting in Windsor, Ontario.

The commission, which mediates Great Lakes and other border issues between the U.S.  and Canada, will discuss several weighty issues facing the lakes, including: Invasive  species, chemicals of emerging concern (fish on Prozac and other drugs), sewage  overflows and water quality.

The commission’s meeting will focus largely on its 14th Biennial report on Great Lakes Water Quality.

It was fitting that a photo of a sewage treatment plant graced the Read More » »

Photos of Ontario

Lake Ontario is the most polluted Great Lake, suffering from industrial pollution and waste disposal that comes from having one of the most populous watersheds along the Great Lakes. You wouldn’t know it, though, by looking at some of the gorgeous photos on Gary Wood’s Flickr stream. You can see how his fellow Canadians are working with New York legislators to restore the wildlife and beauty of the Lake here.

The photos illustrate an important point: While the Great Lakes appear majestic, beautiful, vast and impervious to harm–in fact they are very vulnerable.

Read a report that details the Read More » »

Ontario: The Lakes’ Link to the Atlantic

Although Lake Ontario is the smallest in size of the Great Lakes, it plays an important role—its watershed is the Great Lakes system’s only connection to the Atlantic Ocean.

The watershed includes some of the most impressive and important bodies of water in all of North America. Niagara Falls, the Finger Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway and other key Ontario arteries are not only popular and beautiful tourist destinations, but they are also critical to the health of the Great Lakes watershed.

But many of these arteries are clogged with over 50 years’ worth of toxins and contaminants, and they are contributing Read More » »

The State of the Great Lakes & New York

Click to view a larger map of the restoration sites.

State of Great Lakes – New York
Fact Sheet (PDF)

The Great Lakes are one of our most precious national treasures. With nearly 20 percent of the Earth’s fresh surface water, they provide drinking water to 28 million U.S. residents. But threats to the Great Lakes basin are making our waters less fishable, closing our beaches to swimming and affecting our drinking Read More » »