National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Role in the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) is a binational agreement between Canada and the U.S. designed to restore and protect the Great Lakes while recognizing individual national actions that affect this shared resource. The Agreement includes ten focused annexes, including Lakewide Action and Management Plans (LAMPs) for each lake. A binational agreement with many subcommittees can lead to challenges with communication and collaboration between many different organizations. Additionally, understanding an organization’s participation, specifically NOAA, can be complex. A series of interviews with each Annex and LAMP NOAA representative was conducted to gauge which projects each Annex or LAMP are working on, how often each Annex or LAMP meets, and how active a role NOAA plays within the Annex or LAMP itself. These interviews revealed that, depending on the Annex or LAMP, there is a general trend of inactivity or lack of collaboration within NOAA or within the Annex or LAMP committees themselves. Possible reasons for these ebbs is due to the lack of funding, unorganized communication and collaboration within the Annex or LAMP committee itself, or simply because NOAA's mission does not align with the needs of the project. Based upon the results of the surveys, to strengthen NOAA’s involvement with the GLWQA, NOAA should continue conducting projects that align with the Annexes or LAMPs' objectives despite the lack of guidance from the GLWQA committee itself, being a more active voice in Annex or LAMP meetings, and collaborating and communicating between the science and policy supporting the Great Lakes.