1.0 INTRODUCTION 



The Poplar River Bilateral Monitoring Committee was authorized for an initial period of five years by 

 the Governments of Canada and the United States under the Poplar River Cooperative Monitoring 

 Arrangement dated September 23, 1 980. A copy of the Arrangement is attached to this report as 

 Annex 1 . On March 12, 1 987, the Arrangement was extended by the Governments for four years to 

 March 1991 . The Arrangement was further extended for another five years to March 1 996 following 

 a request from the Committee in 1 991 . A more detailed account of the historical background of the 

 Arrangement is contained in the 1990 Annual Report of the Poplar River Bilateral Monitoring 

 Committee. 



The Committee oversees monitoring programs designed to evaluate the potential for transboundary 

 impacts from SaskPower Corporation's (formerly Saskatchewan Power Corporation) coal-fired 

 thermal generating station and ancillary operations near Coronach, Saskatchewan. Monitoring is 

 conducted in Canada and the United States at or near the Intemational Boundary for quantity and 

 quality of surface and ground water and for air quality. Participants from both countries, including 

 Federal, State and Provincial agencies, are involved in monitoring. 



The Committee submits an annual report to Governments which summarizes the monitoring results, 

 evaluates apparent trends, and compares the data to objectives or standards recommended by the 

 International Joint Commission (IJC) to Governments, or relevant State, Provincial, or Federal 

 standards. The Committee reports to Governments on a calendar year basis. This report is the 

 fourteenth in the series. The Committee is also responsible for drawing to the attention of 

 Governments definitive changes in monitored parameters which may require immediate attention. 



A responsibility of the Committee is to review the adequacy of the monitoring programs in both 

 countries and make recommendations to Governments on the Technical Monitoring Schedules. The 

 Schedules are updated annually to document changes in monitoring locations, sampling 



