Congenial relations between the United States and Canada have long been a source of pride for both countries. We characteristically speak about being each other's largest trading partners, and about the degree to which we have a shared, peaceful border. Over the years, the two countries have created a number of mechanisms for dealing with cross-boundary environmental matters relating to air, water and migratory wildlife.
One of the great accomplishments of the bilateral relationship between Canada and the United States in the past century has been the cooperative management of the many lakes and rivers that flow along and across our common boundary. The International Joint Commission (IJC) has provided a mechanism for joint management of the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Great Lakes, and other boundary and transboundary waters. Two binational agreements, The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 have provided a framework for IJC undertakings.
But signs of disharmony in trade and environmental relations between the two countries have recently surfaced. Ongoing and potential conflict over water, or trade that is dependent on water, has become a political reality in Canada. Water scarcity has already affected many areas of the United States, and a few parts of Canada. The reasons for these shortages include increasing population, industrial development, climate warming, poor agricultural practices, poor prevention of water pollution, and watershed modification.
POWI has conducted research in a number of key areas relating to transboundary water. These include:
- Legal instruments to protect Canada's waters from out of basin transfers;
- Diversions and bulk water transfers from the Great Lakes;
- Proposals to divert water from the Red River Valley to Canadian watersheds;
- Proposals to re-apportion waters from the St. Mary and Milk Rivers; and
- Managing groundwater in the Great Lakes Basin.
- Burying Carbon Dioxide in Underground Saline Aquifers: Political Folly or Climate Change Fix?
About the Author
Graham Thomson is an award-winning journalist with the Edmonton Journal who began studying carbon capture and sequestration while on a Canadian Journalism Foundation fellowship at the University of Toronto in 2008-2009.- How the Oil Sands Got to the Great Lakes Basin: Pipelines, Refineries and Emissions to Air and Water
- Refineries in the Great Lakes Basin are rapidly expanding to accommodate crude oil from the Alberta oil sands. This conference, "How the Oil Sands Got to the Great Lakes Basin: Pipelines, Refineries and Emissions to Air And Water," was intended to provide an opportunity, in a university setting, to inform public opinion about the impacts of refinery expansion in the Basin, drawing on data analysis, shared information and public discussion.
- A Model Act for Preserving Canada's Water
- A description of a model federal statute to preserve Canada's waters from bulk removal, a statute that would be both consistent with Canada's trade obligations and respectful of the roles of different levels of government within Canada.
- On the Table: Water, Energy and North American Integration
- Explores recent events relating to water export, including increasing water supply problems in the U.S. and Mexico, recent activities in Canada and the U.S. that promote the export of water from Canada, the myths of water abundance in Canada, the Security and Prosperity Partnership, and the water-energy nexus in a continental context.
- Water, Energy and North American Integration Conference
- Webcast of the "On the Table Conference", held September 10, 2007 at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. Includes presentations by Ralph Pentland, William Nitze, Tom Axworthy, Joe Dukert and Gordon Laxer.
- Water Diversion, Export and Canada-US Relations: A Brief History
- An in-depth historical analysis of the water export issue, including the many complex factors that have led us to today's unsettled legal and policy regime.
- Comments on the International St. Mary-Milk Rivers Administrative Task Force Report
- Canadian water and environmental policy expert Ralph Pentland's response to the International Joint Commission report on how to improve the St. Mary and Milk Rivers apportionment.
- A Binational Perspective on the Draft Report on Red River Valley Water Needs and Options
- Ralph Pentland, acting Chair of the Canadian Water Issues Council and prime author of the Federal Water Policy that was tabled in Parliament in 1987, responds to a draft report prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation studying water supply needs in the North Dakota portion of the Red River Valley.
- Decision Time: Water Diversion Policy in the Great Lakes
- An exchange between Canadian and American water experts Ralph Pentland and Jim Olson about the development of policy governing water diversion from the Great Lakes.
- Political Diversions: Annex 2001 and the Future of the Great Lakes
- "A way to get to yes": The Great Lakes Annex 2001 water agreement has been driven by political concerns about getting water to thirsty communities.
- Expert Workshop on Managing Groundwater Resources in the Great Lakes Basin: Securing Our Future—Meeting Report
- A representative group of experts and observers discuss groundwater issues within the context of the Great Lakes Basin, and provide feedback on the discussion paper, Managing Groundwater Resources in the Great Lakes Basin: Securing Our Future, Draft Vision and Principles (August 2003).
- Expert Workshop on Managing Groundwater Resources in the Great Lakes Basin: Securing Our Future—Discussion Paper
- An overview of relevant technical and policy aspects of groundwater in the Great Lakes Basin, including a vision for effective management of the resource in the future, and principles to achieve that vision.
- Library of Parliament Seminar: A Model Act to Preserve Canada's Water
- Water in North America: Rising Tensions
Notes for Remarks by Adèle Hurley to the Royal Society of Canada Symposium on Water in Canada and the World 
- Canadians have spent much of the last century being concerned about potential US impacts on our water supplies. This has distracted us from getting on with the job of managing our water resources in this country.
- Rising Tensions: Canada/US Cross-Border Water Issues in the 21st Century
Remarks by Adèle M. Hurley and David Schindler to the Centre for Global Studies Conference on Canada/U.S. Relations at the University of Victoria. 
- Canada's position on boundary waters needs to be strengthened to protect Canada's water resources.
- Don't Drain on Our Parade
Op Ed piece from Globe and Mail 
- A perfect storm is brewing around the Great Lakes, the world's largest freshwater body, that could unsettle a vital economy that accounts for half of U.S. and Canadian trade.
- The Great Lakes: Death by a Thousand Straws
Op Ed piece from Globe and Mail - A Globe and Mail opinion piece on the Great Lakes Annex 2001 water agreement: What should have been a simple mechanism to limit diversions of water, has become a way to say "yes" to water-challenged communities all along the edge of the basin.
