So, what’s happened in the years since? After more than a decade of research, negotiation, shifting perspectives, goal-setting and law-making, a revised agreement in 1987 highlighted 43 of the most polluted areas in the Great Lakes: 26 in the U.S., 12 in Canada, and five binational (you can see these so-called “areas of concern” on the map). “They put a magnifying glass on those 43 areas and had a laser-like focus to bring stakeholders together to cooperate and reach agreement on the problems,” says Hartig.

Still, dedicated funding took time. Canada was faster out of the blocks with the Great Lakes Cleanup Fund in the late ’80s (which became the Great Lakes Protection Initiative in 2017). The U.S. didn’t see major dedicated funding until after the millennium. However, by 2019, Canada and the U.S. had spent a total of C$6.5 billion and US$17.5 billion, respectively, to clean up and restore the Great Lakes.

It’s a fair amount of money. But if the Great Lakes region were a country, it would have the third largest GDP in the world behind the U.S. and China. The combined US$22.78 billion spent on cleanup over the last 34 years represents less than 0.4 per cent of the annual economic activity generated by this natural resource. And the Great Lakes Commission and Council of Great Lakes Industries estimate these investments will offer a threefold return. In the Toronto region alone, decades of cleanup and collaborative planning “have led to the revitalization of Toronto’s waterfront with substantial economic and social benefits,” according to research published in 2020 by Hartig and colleagues — yielding jobs, tourism spending and tax revenues.

So far, three Canadian and six U.S. sites have improved enough that they’re no longer listed as areas of concern. “It’s really important to celebrate 50 years and recognize how far we’ve come,” says Hartig. “But, you know, the ultimate goal is sustainability. That’s where we want to be, and we’re not there. So, we’ve got more to do.”