St. Lawrence Seaway: Canada and United States Joint Lifeline (A Conversation with Kenneth R. Olson)

Abstract

This interview with Professor Kenneth R. Olson discusses his book St. Lawrence Seaway: Canada and United States Joint Lifeline, which examines the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River–Seaway system as a connected freshwater, navigation, landscape, and environmental management system linking the inland Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. The conversation highlights the historical and contemporary importance of the St. Lawrence Seaway for Canada and the United States, including its role in transportation, settlement, trade, water governance, and environmental change. Professor Olson explains how climate variability, hydrology, geomorphology, engineering infrastructure, agricultural development, shoreline erosion, flooding, invasive species, and pollution legacies have shaped the region over time. The interview also connects freshwater systems with industrial and military history, including the production and transport of Agent Blue and arsenic contamination associated with the Menominee River. Particular attention is given to the need for resilience-based river and floodplain management, long-term soil and water protection, infrastructure maintenance, and integrated research on climate change, public health, and freshwater systems. The central message of the interview is that change is the only certainty in river systems.