About SOLEC

The State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conferences (SOLEC) are hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Environment Canada on behalf of the two countries. These conferences are held every two years in response to reporting requirements of the binational Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). The purpose of the Agreement is "to restore and maintain the physical, chemical and biological integrity of the waters of the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem." The conferences are intended to report on the state of the Great Lakes ecosystem and the major factors impacting it, and to provide a forum for exchange of this information amongst Great Lakes decision-makers. However, these conferences are not intended to discuss the status of programs needed for protection and restoration of the Great Lakes basin, but to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs through analysis of the state of the ecosystem. Another goal of the conference is to provide information to people in all levels of government, corporate, and not-for-profit sectors who make decisions that affect the Lakes. These conferences are a culmination of gathering information from many sources and engaging a variety of organizations. Following each conference, the Governments prepare a report on the state of the Great Lakes based in large part upon the conference process.

The first conference, held in 1994, addressed the entire system with particular emphasis on aquatic community health, human health, aquatic habitat, toxic contaminants and nutrients in the water, and the changing Great Lakes economy. The 1996 conference focused on the nearshore lands and waters of the system. Emphasis was placed on nearshore waters, coastal wetlands, land by the Lakes, impacts of changing land use, and information availability and management. SOLEC 94 and 96 were based on a series of ad hoc indicators that were suggested by scientific experts. Following SOLEC 96, those involved identified a need to develop a comprehensive, basin-wide set of indicators that would allow the Parties to report on the progress under the Agreement in a predictable, compatible and standard format.

For SOLEC 98, the indicator development process became more formalized with the development of a suite of easily understood indicators that objectively represent the condition of the Great Lakes ecosystem components (as called for in Annex 11 of the GLWQA). This suite is used every two years to inform the public and report progress toward achieving the purpose of the GLWQA. This indicator suite draws upon and complements indicators used for more specific purposes such as Lakewide Management Plans (LaMPs) or Remedial Action Plans (RAPs) for Areas of Concern.

SOLEC 2000 was the first conference to begin the actual assessment of the state of the lakes using these science-based indicators. The challenge was to report on as many of the 80 indicators as possible. In some cases data were already available for use to report on an indicator (by various agencies). In other cases, new data were required or further research and development was required before data collection efforts could be implemented followed by reporting on an indicator.

The focus of SOLEC 2002 was to continue to update and assess the state of the Great Lakes using the current suite of indicators with an emphasis on biological integrity. This SOLEC presented an assessment of the state of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem based on 43 indicator assessments. A draft version of these reports was distributed at SOLEC 2002.

In the interest of improving SOLEC, the first of two Peer Review Workshops was held in October of 2003. The purpose of this first workshop was to review the SOLEC process based on comparisons to other national and international indicator initiatives. The overall goal was to enhance the quality and credibility of SOLEC products by ensuring that decisions are based on a sound and credible process. The second Peer Review workshop was held in January of 2004. The purpose of this workshop was to evaluate the potential effectiveness of the indicators for influencing decision makers and contributing to the assessment of the state of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem.

SOLEC 2004, was the 6th biennial conference in which the governments of Canada and the United States of America assessed and reported on the condition of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem using indicators and indicator categories, with an emphasis on physical integrity.

SOLEC 2004 also marked the introduction of nine categories of indicators which incorporated the 81 Great Lakes indicators in the suite. The categories include: Contamination, Biotic Communities, Invasive Species, Coastal Zones, Aquatic Habitats, Human Health, Land Use - Land Cover, Resource Utilization and Climate Change. Some of these categories are under development and will require additional indicators and sub categories before being considered complete. Five of the nine indicator categories were assessed for SOLEC 2004.

Attendees of SOLEC 2004 also explored managerial implications of the indicators’ findings, considered the size of our Great Lakes “ecological footprint,” and recognized the Great Lakes “success stories” that exemplify a commitment to preserving and restoring the environment.

In November of 2005, a chemical integrity workshop was held to establish the scope of the information and scientific review required to assess the “Chemical Integrity of the Great Lakes” in preparation for SOLEC 2006. The workshop topics included various aspects of manufactured chemicals and imbalances in naturally-occurring chemicals. Through these presentations and discussions by experts, the workshop helped to identify key messages, issues, needs, status and a path forward for assessing chemical integrity in the Great Lakes.

The 7th biennial State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference was held in Milwaukee, WI in November 2006. The overall status of the Great Lakes ecosystem was assessed as Mixed because some conditions or areas were good while others were poor. Overall assessments and management challenges were prepared for each indicator category to the extent that information was available. SOLEC presented the most comprehensive assessment yet of the state of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem based on 60 indicator assessments.

The focus of the 2006 conference was chemical integrity. In addition to presenting all available category assessments, the indicator assessments related to contaminants and chemical integrity were highlighted. Presentations prepared by experts in the contaminants field were developed and presented at SOLEC 2006 including information on the status of anthropogenic (man-made) contaminants and imbalances in naturally-occurring chemicals in the Great Lakes basin. Based on the Great Lakes indicator reports, the Contamination category was assessed as Mixed and Improving.

SOLEC 2008 will be held on October 22-23, 2008 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. For more conference details, please see the SOLEC 2008 Draft Conference Agenda.

For further information about state of the Great Lakes reporting and SOLEC, please visit www.binational.net or email SOLEC@ec.gc.ca.