Since 1978, studies by the International Joint Commission (the bi-national commission mandated to protect the Great Lakes) have shown increasing water quality stress due to urban non-point source pollution. The key question for the IJC today, as an international commission with no direct enforcement power, is how the IJC can be effective in getting the parties and their jurisdictions to improve management of non-point source pollution issues when the land use trigger is primarily a local government issue. To begin to answer this question, the primary objective of this current study is to assemble the latest data and analysis on the implementation of practical, efficient and effective land-based best management practices that minimize the impacts to Great Lakes water quality posed by urban and urbanizing development within the Great Lakes Basin. The focus of this report is two fold: first to analyze the current tools and techniques considered in the literature and practice to be stormwater best management practices that can act to mitigate the impact of urbanization on water quality. Secondly, given the status of the current understanding of watershed hydrology and the impacts of these best management practices, to answer two primary questions: 1) which tools and techniques, individually or in concert are the most effective in dealing with the water quality impacts of urban growth and development; and 2) what role can the IJC recommend for federal and state governments to play in the effort to support effective use of these tools in water quality planning and watershed development decisions.