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 UNITED STATES 
 CANADA 
 
 INTERNATIONAL 
 
 JOINT 
 
 COMMISSION 
 
 
 LIBRARY of THE •>?'% 
 
 -y ‘.v 
 
 mar 13 1974 
 
IJC 
 
 is a uniquely successful experiment in in¬ 
 ternational cooperation launched in 1909 
 as a result of the U.S.-Canadian Boundary 
 Waters Treaty. 
 
 is the main institution through which the 
 two countries cooperate in resolving prob¬ 
 lems along their common frontier—the 
 level of lakes and rivers which form or 
 cross the boundary, power generation, air 
 and water pollution, and other problems 
 of mutual concern. 
 
 is a permanent bilateral body composed 
 of an equal number of nationals who, ir¬ 
 respective of nationality, serve as a uni¬ 
 tary body seeking common solutions to 
 common problems of common interest. 
 
 “I do not anticipate that the time will 
 ever come when this Commission will not be 
 needed. I think as the two countries along this 
 tremendous boundary line become more and 
 more thickly settled, the need for it will in¬ 
 crease. I do not think we shall ever see the 
 time when this Commission will not be needed 
 to dispose of controversies along the boundary 
 line in their inception, furnishing a machinery 
 ready at hand for people to get relief and 
 redress without going into the long process 
 of diplomatic correspondence . . .” 
 
 —Elihu Root, who signed the 
 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty 
 as U.S. Secretary of State, 
 speaking in the Senate 
 February 27, 1973. 
 
 “I am convinced that it (the Commis¬ 
 sion) contains the new world answer to old 
 world queries as to the most effective methods 
 of adjusting international differences and 
 avoiding wars to which they give rise. In some 
 respects it constitutes the most important con¬ 
 tribution which has thus far been made to the 
 practical solution of international differences.” 
 
 —W. L. Mackenzie King 
 Prime Minister 
 1923 
 
HOW IT BEGAN 
 
 More than 60 years ago, the United 
 States and Canada, sharing the world's long¬ 
 est unprotected international boundary (5,500 
 miles), recognized the need to devise special 
 machinery for direct and impartial considera¬ 
 tion of problems arising along the boundary. 
 
 At the turn of the century Canada had 
 not acquired full control of her external re¬ 
 lations, and efforts to resolve boundary ques¬ 
 tions were often delayed by the need for 
 Ottawa and Washington to refer such ques¬ 
 tions to the British Government. These delays 
 gave rise to unnecessary suspicions. Even 
 minor disputes became exaggerated. 
 
 The solution was incorporated in the 
 Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909, the first 
 treaty negotiated by Canadians for Canadians. 
 It was signed on January 11, 1909, by the 
 United States and by Great Britain acting on 
 behalf of Canada. The treaty’s purposes, as 
 set forth in the preamble, are: 
 
 —to prevent disputes regarding the 
 use of boundary waters; 
 
 —to make provision for the adjust¬ 
 ment and settlement of all questions 
 along the common frontier involving 
 the rights, obligations, or interests of 
 either nation in relation to the other 
 or the inhabitants of the other; 
 
 —to establish principles or rules 
 which would be followed in the ad¬ 
 justment and settlement of such 
 questions. 
 
 To implement these objectives, the treaty 
 established a permanent binational body, the 
 International Joint Commission (IJC). 
 
 By 1912, amid predictions that the IJC 
 experiment would be “shortlived,” the Com¬ 
 mission had its full complement of appointees 
 and went to work. Since then it has established 
 a record for impartiality and an enviable rec¬ 
 ord of action in the common interest. 
 
HOW IT OPERATES 
 
 Three of the six Commissioners of the 
 IJC are appointed by the President of the 
 United States and three by the Governor in 
 Council in Canada. The six act as a single 
 body, rather than as national delegations un¬ 
 der instructions by their respective govern¬ 
 ments. Decisions are made by simple majority 
 after due and joint consideration by all of 
 the Commissioners, not unlike a court of law 
 composed of several judges. The Commission 
 has two headquarters offices—Washington and 
 Ottawa—and has recently established a re¬ 
 gional office in Windsor, Ontario, which has 
 special functions related to the Great Lakes 
 Water Quality Agreement of April 15, 1972. 
 
 The Commission has several roles under 
 the 1909 treaty: 
 
 Quasi-judicial: when an application is 
 submitted requesting approval of dams or 
 other works that affect natural levels and 
 flows of boundary waters or that raise levels 
 in the other country in waters that flow 
 across the boundary. Applications may be sub¬ 
 mitted by either government, by public agen¬ 
 cies, private corporations, or individuals in 
 either country. The Commission’s Order of 
 Approval specifies conditions with which the 
 applicant must comply in the construction and 
 operation of the approved works. 
 
 Investigative: when a question involving 
 the rights or interests of either country along 
 the common frontier is referred to the Com¬ 
 mission by one or both governments for ex¬ 
 amination and report with recommendations 
 as to actions necessary for its resolution. 
 
 Surveillance and Coordination: to moni¬ 
 tor compliance with the Orders of Approval 
 it has issued or, at the request of the two gov¬ 
 ernments, to monitor and coordinate actions or 
 programs that result from governmental ac¬ 
 ceptance of specific recommendations made by 
 the Commission. 
 
 The Commission maintains small staffs of 
 advisors and secretaries in both headquarters 
 offices. A joint regional office was established 
 on the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario, in 
 May 1973, specifically to deal with Great 
 Lakes water pollution problems. 
 
WHAT IT HAS DONE 
 
 The Commission has dealt with a great 
 variety of problems. For example: 
 
 Approval of hydroelectric and other 
 water use developments along the river systems 
 shared by both countries, which affect their 
 levels and flows. 
 
 Comprehensive investigations of bound¬ 
 ary water and air pollution along the bound¬ 
 ary. 
 
 The Commission's approval of applica¬ 
 tions for power development on the St. Law¬ 
 rence River resulted in a significant new 
 source of electricity for the major metropoli¬ 
 tan and industrial areas of the lower Great 
 Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin, and in 
 the regulation of the levels and outflows of 
 Lake Ontario. 
 
 In 1950 the Commission established in¬ 
 ternational water quality objectives for the 
 connecting channels of the Great Lakes. These 
 were the first common international environ¬ 
 mental objectives agreed to by the two gov¬ 
 ernments and the forerunners of water quality 
 standards for waste-receiving streams and lakes 
 established subsequently by federal, state, and 
 provincial governments, on both sides of the 
 boundary. 
 
 In 1959, after an intensive investigation 
 of the potential beneficial uses of the Colum¬ 
 bia River, the IJC recommended “principles” 
 for determination and apportionment of 
 downstream benefits of Canadian water stor¬ 
 age which led to the Columbia River Treaty, 
 signed in January 1961. 
 
 In recent years many IJC actions have 
 pertained to the Great Lakes Basin, a richly 
 endowed resource shared by Canada and the 
 United States, and now a major international 
 waterway. . . ^ ___—-— 
 
In 1965 the Commission began an investi¬ 
 gation of the desirability and feasibility of 
 further controlling the water levels of the 
 Great Lakes, probably the most extensive 
 hydrological survey ever undertaken. The 
 study is nearing completion. 
 
 At the same time the Commission began 
 a major study of the pollution of Lake Erie, 
 Lake Ontario, and the international section 
 of the St. Lawrence River. In 1970 the Com¬ 
 mission submitted a report to the two gov¬ 
 ernments, identifying water quality objectives 
 and recommending programs to achieve them. 
 This report led to the United States-Canadian 
 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement to 
 “clean up” the Great Lakes. The agreement 
 was signed on April 15, 1972, by President 
 Nixon and Prime Minister Trudeau. 
 
 Altogether the IJC has dealt with mine 
 references relating to transboundary water 
 pollution, seven of which have been received 
 in the post-World War II period. 
 
 Transboundary air pollution has also oc¬ 
 cupied some of the attention of the Commis¬ 
 sion over many years. A landmark case in in¬ 
 ternational law regarding the flow of polluted 
 air from one country to another, the “Trail 
 Smelter Case” involved first an investigation 
 and recommendations by the IJC, and finally 
 settlement by arbitration. In 1972 the Com¬ 
 mission completed an investigation of the in¬ 
 ternational air pollution in the Detroit-Wind- 
 sor and Sarnia-Port Huron areas and made 
 recommendations to the United States and 
 Canada for remedial measures and ambient 
 air quality standards. 
 
 Early in 1971 the IJC was asked to de¬ 
 termine the environmental and ecological con¬ 
 sequences in Canada of raising the level of 
 Ross Lake on the Skagit River to provide 
 more power for the Seattle area. The find¬ 
 ings were transmitted to both governments 
 
WHAT IT IS DOING 
 
 Currently there are several major prob¬ 
 lems confronting the Commission: 
 
 Prolonged high precipitation in recent 
 years has raised the levels of all of the Great 
 Lakes to record or near-record heights caus¬ 
 ing significant damage to property and en¬ 
 dangering the health and property of many 
 thousands of people on the shores in both 
 countries. In these extreme circumstances the 
 Commission and its Boards have intensified 
 their surveillance of levels and flows over 
 which they have jurisdiction, to permit 
 prompt flow variations as necessary and to 
 alleviate adverse effects as much as possible. 
 
 The Great Lakes Water Quality Agree¬ 
 ment of 1972 represents a new initiative in 
 environmental pollution control on an in¬ 
 ternational basis. The IJC has been given the 
 important responsibility of coordinating pro¬ 
 grams prescribed by the agreement, assessing 
 progress and effectiveness of the abatement 
 efforts of the United States and Canada, re¬ 
 porting to governments and the public, and 
 recommending any further measures required 
 to meet the water quality objectives. 
 
 Point Roberts, Washington, is a 5-mile- 
 square piece of U.S. territory adjacent to the 
 boundary but isolated from the rest of the 
 United States by Puget Sound. The problems 
 of its people, created by their isolation, have 
 been referred to the IJC for study and rec¬ 
 ommendations. 
 
 Continuing pollution surveillance pro¬ 
 grams in the St. Croix River (Maine-New 
 Brunswick), the Rainy River (Minnesota- 
 Ontario), the Red River of the North (North 
 Dakota-Minnesota-Manitoba), air pollution 
 along the common border, preservation of the 
 scenic values of Niagara Falls, the effects of 
 land-use activities on Great Lakes water qual¬ 
 ity, and a new study of the desirability and 
 means of regulating Lake Champlain and its 
 outlet stream, the Richelieu River in the 
 Province of Quebec, are additional problems 
 currently occupying the attention of the In¬ 
 ternational Joint Commission. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE PUBLICATION 8750 
 Inter-American Series <104^ ) 
 
 Released January 1974 
 
 GPO : 1974 0-530-398 
 
 For sole by the Superintendent of Documents 
 U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 
 Price 25 cents Stock Number 4400-01518 
 
Christian A. Herter, Jr. 
 Chairman 
 Charles R. Ross 
 Victor h. Smith 
 
 Canadian Section 
 
 Louis J. Robichaud 
 Chairman 
 Bernard Beaupr£ 
 Keith Henry 
 
 Headquarters: 
 
 1717 H Street, NW. 
 
 in 
 
 Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 20440 
 (202) 296-2142 
 
 Room 850 
 151 Slater Street 
 
 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada KIP 5H2 
 (613) 992-2945 
 
 '•: •v.'i •' ’ 
 
 Regional Office: 
 
 
 
 - * - 
 
 ,MP- 
 
 Suite 803 
 
 880 Ouellette Avenue 
 Windsor, Ontario, Canada N9A 1C7 A 
 (519) 254-2565