Contact

Store

About

Issues
News
Guides
Lake Ontario
Media
Get Involved
Donate Now

Search

Home
Issues
News
Guides
Lake Ontario
Media
Get Involved
About
Contact
Store
Donate Now
News

IJC becomes Watermark Project’s latest Collector: Share your story with the Great Lakes’ long-standing guardian

Published on June 14, 2016 by Mark Mattson.

(Photo by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team,  NASA/GSFC )

(Photo by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC)

Last week, the International Joint Commission ("IJC") began partnering with the Watermark Project to collect stories from around the Great Lakes. The IJC is the most recent and highest profile addition to our growing list of collectors and contributors to the project.

The Watermark Project was born out of a need to protect the Great Lakes basin. Our freshwater paradise is not as “great” as it should be.

Part of the problem is lack of communication between government and the public. Government doesn’t know enough about how people use the lakes, what they love and value about the lakes, and what needs to be done to protect the waters we love.

To bridge that gap, we started asking people to recount their powerful memories of water. In almost every instance, people told us stories of bodies of waters that have shaped their lives. We call these stories Watermarks.

As we started collecting these stories and mapping them according to the waterbody where they took place, we discovered that the act of sharing a Watermarks increases self-awareness and empowered new leaders. The mapping of stories builds tighter watershed communities. And the facts contained in the stories provided compelling motivation to enforce environmental laws and regulations in the region.

Since the Watermark Project launched in January, we’ve added many new Collectors (53 to be precise). But the addition of the IJC is extra exciting. This 103 year-old institution is at the forefront of protecting the Great Lakes and all Canada-US boundary waters. They are a special, bi-national organization that sets the tone for managing waterbodies shared by multiple countries.

We hope all Great Lakes citizens will take advantage of this opportunity to tell the IJC their Great Lakes stories. If you like the project, you can even become a Collector yourself.

It’s a simple, but powerful first step: telling and recording Great Lakes water stories is key to making them swimmable drinkable and fishable again.

To kick off the IJC's Watermark collection, here are two Watermarks from the IJC's Canadian and US Chairs – Gordon Walker and Lana Pollack!

 

 

watermark

Newer Articles Older Articles
Featured
Gord Edgar Downie Pier T-shirt
Gord Edgar Downie Pier T-shirt

This shirt commemorates the Gord Edgar Downie Pier in Kingston, Ontario. The City of Kingston and Swim Drink Fish Canada unveiled the pier on July 26, 2018.

100% of our proceeds support our core initiatives so Canadian communities can prosper.

Blog Categories

  • Deloro (2)
  • Eastern Mainline Pipeline (2)
  • American Eel (3)
  • King's Mill Park (4)
  • Castonguay (5)
  • Gifford Hill (5)
  • Pickering (5)
  • Skip the Wash (5)
  • Swim Guide (6)
  • Enbridge-Line9 (9)
  • Events and Meetings (9)
  • GreatLakes Protection Act (10)
  • Waterkeeper Gala (10)
  • Press Releases (11)
  • TO Island Airport (14)
  • Microbeads (15)
  • WestonGreatLakesChallenge (15)
  • 2014 Challenge (16)
  • Microplastics (16)
  • Red Hill Valley Express (20)
  • PortHope RadioactiveWaste (25)
  • TorontoHarbour Monitoring (30)
  • Canadian rollbacks (34)
  • Darlington Refurbishment (46)
  • Toronto Sewage Bypasses (65)

Blog History

  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • February 2012
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • September 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • March 2007
  • October 2006
  • August 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • June 2005
  • April 2005
  • February 2005
  • December 2004
  • November 2004
  • October 2004
  • September 2004
  • August 2004
  • July 2004
  • June 2004
  • April 2004
  • March 2004
  • February 2004
  • January 2004
  • November 2003
  • October 2003
  • September 2003
  • August 2003
  • July 2003
  • June 2003
  • April 2003
  • December 2002
  • November 2002
  • August 2002
  • June 2002
  • May 2002
  • April 2002
  • March 2002
  • October 2001
  • September 2001
Donate Now
Lake Ontario
Cases
Blog
Events
Store
Contact
Guides
Great Lakes Guide
Swim Guide
Drink Guide
Media
Get Involved
Donate
Volunteer
Report Pollution
Events
Sponsor A Beach
About
History
Staff

Search

Waterkeeper, Swim Drink Fish, and the Swim Drink Fish design (icons) are registered trademarks of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper.