Nature Quebec / UQCN
St-Lawrence / Great Lakes transboundary water issues from a Quebec perspective
By: Marc Hudon, Nature Quebec
Nature Quebec / UQCN has been working with support from the Foundation on Transboundary Water Issues between the St. Lawrence river in Quebec and the Great Lakes region. The Great Lakes waters strongly influence the St. Lawrence river downstream to Trois-Rivières east of Montreal: in fact roughly 70% of the St. Lawrence river freshwater supply comes from the outflow of lake Ontario, the remainder comes from the Rivière des Outaouais.
In the past century, the people of Quebec (much like elsewhere in the Basin) used the St. Lawrence river to develop many economic sectors. Unfortunately this included dumping pollutants from industrial plants and untreated wastewaters from cities and municipalities, digging navigation channels, etc., as laws of the time were more permissive.
In recent years, people have developed a deeper respect for their environment. Cities, industries and citizens have begun to care more for the water resource. Citizens throughout the basin are now involved in protecting the Great Lakes, creating institutions, commissions and other working mechanisms towards restoring and preserving the lakes. In parallel, Quebecois have established institutions and tools suited specifically to restore and preserve the St. Lawrence river and ensure its sustainable development.
Things seemed to have improved across this vast system, even with the "business as usual" approach from various sectors, until recently: it is becoming clear that complex problems are not diminishing. Poor water quality, low water levels, increased use of the resource, aquatic invasive species, toxic sediments and climatic changes persist and in some cases are worsening.
© Pascale Malenfante, Nature Québec / UQCN
Nature Quebec has had years of involvement upstream and downstream, providing a connection between what is happening in the province and the broader actions throughout the Great Lakes / St. Lawrence basin. It became obvious to us that in order to protect the St. Lawrence river from the basin-wide stresses, it was important to go there, learn the issues, collaborate as best we could and bring back information to help people from various sectors in Quebec understand what was happening so that they in turn could contribute to the best of their ability in protecting and restoring this vast ecosystem. Likewise, by getting involved upstream, Nature Quebec is able to play a role in sharing with other organizations and participants our perceptions of the impacts of their actions on the St. Lawrence River downstream and to assist in its protection.
We are working to promote such awareness and information-sharing beyond traditional political boundaries. Nature Quebec's work involves participating in the lake Ontario/St-Lawrence river Outflow study by the International Joint Commission (2000-2005), the "Annex 2001" [link to Gordon Annex Highlight] to the Great Lakes Charter, the revision of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, the work by many agencies on Aquatic invasive species, the Seaway's sustainable development, etc. Nature Quebec plans to continue its involvement upstream on those issues and others to support adaptive management and maintain a voice for Quebec citizens in basin-wide institutions and processes.
For more information, visit: www.naturequebec.org.