U.S.-Canada efforts to restore habitats in the Detroit River Area of Concern

The Laurentian Great Lakes represent one-fifth of the standing freshwater on the Earth’s surface. Human use and abuse of these lakes has been a long-standing concern of both the United States and Canada (Vallentyne and Beeton, 1988). In 1985, 42 Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs) were identified by the International Joint Commission’s Great Lakes Water Quality Board where Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement objectives or jurisdictional standards, criteria, or guidelines, established to protect beneficial uses, were exceeded and remedial actions were necessary to restore beneficial uses (International Joint Commission,1985). A 43 rd AOC was identified in 1991 (i.e.,