2019 Water Summit

Water quality on the south shore of Lake Superior.

The Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation convened a Water Summit on Sept. 25, 2019 dedicated to “Water Quality Concerns on the South Shore of Lake Superior.” Representatives from the International Joint Commission (IJC) gathered with local experts on the Northland College campus to discuss the water quality concerns of the south shore of Lake Superior and how these concerns relate to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

The IJC is a Canadian-United States treaty organization that seeks to prevent and resolve issues facing the two countries’ boundary waters. IJC commissioners were seeking the public’s views on the health of Lake Superior and the Great Lakes. During the day-long session, experts provided briefings for the commissioners on environmental conditions, storm-driven impacts to water quality, and future threats for water quality. The hearing was attend by more than 200 people, over half of them Northland College students.

You can listen to Wisconsin Public Radio’s audio recordings of the sessions.

The Whitepaper

The result is a whitepaper, designed to capture and highlight the key water quality concerns that the IJC delegation heard about during its day-long visit to the area. Download a PDF of whitepaper.

Resources

Summit Funders

Northland College thanks these individuals and organizations for supporting the 2019 summit:

Debbie Cervenka
George and Jane Shinners
International Joint Commission

2019 Summit Photo Gallery

2016 Water Summit

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

The Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation convened a Water Summit on Oct. 1, 2016 dedicated to “The Future of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.” Experts from New York to Minnesota gathered on Madeline Island in Lake Superior to examine past successes and challenges of GLRI, and to have a frank and robust conversation about the program’s future.

The White Paper

The result is a whitepaper, designed to provide the presidential transition teams context and analysis about the future of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. PDF of whitepaper is available here.