A main goal of the Lake Ontario Partnership in setting the 2018 Lake Ontario CSMI priorities was to collect information to improve understanding of nutrient loading impacts and aquatic invasive species impacts on water quality and the aquatic food web at a lake-wide scale to inform management decisions, including the 2020-2021 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) Nutrients Annex review of phosphorus substance objectives for Lake Ontario. The scope of the 2018 CSMI priorities included the Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and the Upper St. Lawrence River.