NEWSLETTER
ST LAWRENCE VISION 2000
VOLUME 13 – ISSUE 6 – FEBRUARY 2003
Preceding issues

	SUMMARY
	Monitoring the State of the St. Lawrence A Decisive First Step
	Human Health Using Science to Protect Public Health
	News in brief

Le Fleuve is published jointly by St. Lawrence Vision 2000 partners.

Co-ordination
Raymonde Goupil, Clément Dugas and Danielle Coulombe

Text
Andrée LeMay

Realization
Françoise Lapointe, Editor, SLV 2000

Translation from French to English
PWGSC–Translation Bureau

This Newsletter is also available in PDF format.

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Joining forces

The members of the Ecosystem Monitoring Committee, which is co-ordinating the establishment and implementation of the State of the St. Lawrence Monitoring Program, consist of government partners, including Environment Canada, the Ministère de l'Environnement du Québec, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Quebec’s wildlife and parks corporation, the Société de la faune et des parcs du Québec. After proposing and developing a program, partners agreed to continue their respective monitoring activities and pool their results.

Stratégies Saint-Laurent is also a member of the committee. It plays a key role, as Hélène Bouchard explains. “This nongovernmental organization allows us to hook up with a number of stakeholders in the environmental community, while also highlighting the concerns of the ZIP committees.” The organization, which promotes participation and joint action by riverside communities and provides ongoing support to the ZIP committees, also plays a very active role in the Community Involvement component.

A broadened outlook

“In the past, several assessments of the state of the river have been carried out on a limited basis, providing a snapshot of the river at a particular period in time,” Bouchard explains. She adds that this type of assessment did not fully satisfy the continuous need for information by many of the committee’s clients, particularly municipal and government decision makers, scientists and environmental groups.

“Therefore, we had to move from one-time-only findings to adopt a long-term perspective. It was a pivotal moment in many ways. We observed that the public tended to have a negative perception of the state of the St. Lawrence. In most cases, this perception did not correspond to, or take account of, scientific reality. Most of the solution lay in the systematic monitoring of the main components of the St. Lawrence and the ongoing dissemination of up-to-date information, to give the public a more realistic view of the situation.”

“At the same time, we had to continue to offer rigorous scientific information to decision makers, so that they could make informed decisions to ensure ecosystem integrity and restore lost uses.”

Components under the microscope

The St. Lawrence ecosystem is complex, encompassing a wide range of freshwater, estuarine and saltwater environments, as well as a great diversity of animal and plant species. The program uses as its frame of reference the five basic components of the St. Lawrence ecosystem cited earlier. Initially, the committee decided to limit its activities to the water, riverbed, biological resources and uses components, setting aside the shoreline component.

“To assess the condition of, and changes in, the ecosystem,” Jacques Dupont explains, “we selected 21 indicators, also called environmental monitoring activities, that are part of partners’ permanent data acquisition programs. Although each partner remains responsible for gathering and interpreting data, by analysing the results as a whole, we are able to obtain an overview of the state of the St. Lawrence.”

“The 21 indicators are the foundation of the program, providing it with a solid scientific basis, which, admittedly, required much effort and co-operation on the part of the partners. In future years, other indicators will probably be added, including some involving the shoreline and uses components.”

Monitoring activity

The State of the St. Lawrence Monitoring Program is based on 21 environmental indicators. They consist in measurements of, or statistics on, water, the riverbed and biological resources of the St. Lawrence; others also involve uses. Indicators are based on current monitoring activities carried out by partners to the agreement: Environment Canada (EC), Ministère de l'Environnement du Québec (MENV), Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and the Société de la faune et des parcs du Québec (FAPAQ).

Is the St. Lawrence in better health than it was 10 or 15 years ago?

“With the proviso that we do not yet have a complete vision of the state of the St. Lawrence, but only points of reference, we can say that the ecosystem is in better shape now,” Dupont explains.

In fact, the combined data collected on water, sediments and biological resources show that the St. Lawrence is in better condition than it was in the second half of the 20th century:

• toxic contamination has been greatly reduced;
• some animal populations, particularly the Northern Gannet and Great Blue Heron, have been restored;
• the consumption of seafood and freshwater fish does not pose a health risk;
• in many areas, the water quality is adequate for recreational uses, even if swimming is still not recommended in most of the river.

On the other hand, a number of problems remain. A slight worsening of bacteriological contamination has been observed. This contamination is mainly due to wastewater releases and storm sewer overflows as well as to low water levels in recent years. This limits recreational uses in the freshwater section and shellfish harvesting in coastal marine waters. In addition, the presence of contaminants in deeper sediment layers is a long-term threat to the St. Lawrence; these sediments could be resuspended as a result of meteorological phenomena and human activities such as dredging.

Future challenges

“Incorporating the information obtained and improving the indicators for the main components of the ecosystem on appropriate space and time scales are major challenges that we still face in the monitoring program,” Bouchard comments.

“Along with maintaining and building on our gains,” Dupont adds, “we would like to recruit new partners, including universities, other government departments and agencies and nonprofit organizations working in environmental protection and conservation. Additional efforts in research, development and the implementation of new monitoring activities will allow us to complete the program.”

“We will also emphasize information sharing with our partners and the dissemination of information online (via the Internet). The St. Lawrence Rendezvous was the first demonstration of this spirit of openness and we hope that a forum for discussions on the state of the St. Lawrence will be held every three years.”

“One thing is certain. Monitoring the state of the St. Lawrence is a shared responsibility that requires a long-term commitment!”

Current partners have taken steps to ensure that the program will continue until at least 2010. Stay tuned for more information…

For information :

Ms Hélène Bouchard
State of the St. Lawrence Section
St. Lawrence Centre
Environment Canada
Tel.: (514) 283-3668
E-mail: Helene.Bouchard@ec.gc.ca

Mr Jacques Dupont
Service de l'information sur les milieux aquatiques
Direction du suivi de l'état de l'environnement
Ministère de l'Environnement du Québec
Tel.: (418) 521-3820, ext. 4738
E-mail: Jacques.Dupont@mddep.gouv.qc.ca

The purpose of this newsletter is to provide recent information on projects and activities surrounding the implementation of the St Lawrence Vision 2000 Action Plan.