What is the investigative function of the IJC?
The Boundary Waters Treaty also allows the governments of Canada and the United States to refer issues to the Commission to investigate and make recommendations to help the countries resolve problems with boundary waters. These are called references. For example, the IJC in the late 1970s issued a landmark reference study on pollution from land use activities, one of the first in-depth studies to be done on non-point source pollution. In the year 2000 the IJC completed a reference study on the controversial issue of consumption, diversion and removals of water from the Great Lakes. The IJC has been given references by both countries on many important issues over the last 94 years, not just on issues affecting the Great Lakes, but in many other cases of potential conflict with respect to waters along the shared border. In the 1970s the IJC was given a standing reference by Canada and the United States that conferred another important responsibility on it – overseeing the implementation
