With the Parties soon to consider the future of the Agreement, the Alliance for the Great Lakes, Biodiversity Project, Canadian Environmental Law Association, and Great Lakes United received a generous grant from The Joyce Foundation with one purpose in mind: to coalesce the region’s advocates behind a unified set of rec- ommendations for the next generation of the Agreement. [...] In 1972 the United States and Canada forged the Great Lakes Introduction Water Quality Agreement to protect and restore the waters of the Great Lakes—one of the world’s most important freshwater ecosystems. [...] In brief, we believe it imperative to: ♦ Reaffirm the fundamental goals of the Agreement “to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Great Lakes ecosystem” and prevent backsliding on targets such as “virtual elimination of toxic substances.” ♦ Ensure that the Agreement responds to the ecological changes and emerging stresses to the ecosystem as they pertain to t [...] This report is designed to build the case for these conclusions through providing the following: ♦ An overview of the history and context of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement; ♦ Guiding principles for the review process and the Agreement; ♦ A discussion of major drivers of water quality degradation and 7 recommendations for addressing these drivers through the Agreement. [...] At the direction of Canada and the United States, the IJC developed the framework for the first Great Lakes Water 8 Quality Agreement in response to concern about oxygen-depleting eutrophication, pollution, and the rising public demand for action to address these and other threats to the Great Lakes.