U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa P. Jackson and Canada's Minister of the Environment Peter Kent signed an updated Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement as a cooperative effort to protect the Great Lakes.

The agreement was first signed in 1972 and hadn't been updated since 1987. The amended Agreement states that the United States and Canada will cooperate and coordinate efforts on issues like:

• Preventing environmental threats before they turn into actual problems
• Preventing the introduction and spread of invasive species
• Developing conservation strategies to protect native species and restore habitat

"Protecting cherished water bodies like the Great Lakes is not only about environmental conservation, it's also about protecting the health of the families, and the economies, of the local communities that depend of those water bodies for so much every day," Jackson said. "The amended Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement we signed … outlines the strong commitment the U.S. and Canada share to safeguard the largest freshwater system in the world. Our collaborative efforts stand to benefit millions of families on both sides of the border."

Both the United States and Canada began seeking input from stakeholders in 2009 for the revision of the agreement.