Plan St-Laurent - Pour un développement durable

• The St. Lawrence
  River in good hands
  • Governmental
    actions
  • St. Lawrence Plan
  • Phase IV 2005-2010
  • Coordination Committees
    • Agriculture
    • Access to Riverbanks
    • Community Involvement and Awareness
    • Ecological Integrity
    • Navigation
    • Monitoring the State of the St. Lawrence River

Access to Riverbanks Coordination Committee

Background

Since it was formed 600 million years ago, the St. Lawrence River has welcomed an innumerable number of persons on its banks! It is not surprising that, with such an “invasive” species, there has been a deterioration in the condition of the river.  

Not so long ago, in the early 1970s, people living along the shores of the St. Lawrence turned their backs on the river. Activities requiring close contact with the river were considered to pose a risk. Shoreline residents gradually abandoned swimming in favour of walking, which had become by far the most popular activity.

With the advent of the St. Lawrence Plan (SLP) in 1988, extensive efforts were made to understand the impact of human activities on the St. Lawrence ecosystem. In phases I, II and III (1988-2003) of the SLP, many studies and analyses were carried out to acquire knowledge that could be used to improve the state of this ecosystem

Programs were developed to address the various problems related to the St. Lawrence and find solutions for eliminating them. Also, several surveys were conducted to determine how people were using the St. Lawrence. The 2002 survey on use of the St. Lawrence showed that 20 percent of shoreline residents use the banks to go walking, observe nature or relax, more than a third would like to use it for swimming, almost a quarter use rowboats or motorboats, and between 7 and 18 percent fish, depending on the area. In all cases, however, the users said that access to supervised beaches, wharves, marinas or boat launches, and, in cities, to fishing spots or simply places to walk was difficult or non-existent.

The studies have clearly shown that the population wants to reappropriate use of the St. Lawrence, and it is from that perspective that the Access to Riverbanks Coordination Committee has been established for the current phase of the 2005-2010 St. Lawrence Plan. 

Mandate

The mandate of the Access to Riverbanks Coordination Committee is to create, develop and restore public access to the St. Lawrence River.

Composition

The federal departments and provincial ministries involved in the Access to Riverbanks component of the St. Lawrence Plan are as follows:

Canada	Québec
Fisheries and Oceans Canada Public Works and Government Services of Canada Parks Canada Agency Environment Canada	Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs Ministère des Affaires municipales et des Régions Ministère du Transport Ministère du Tourisme

The public organizations involved in the Access to Riverbanks component are the following:

• Stratégies Saint-Laurent
• Fédération québécoise de la faune

Municipal organizations were also consulted to identify issues related to creating accesses to the St. Lawrence in the urban centres:

• Metropolitain Community of Québec
• Metropolitain Community of Montréal
• City of Montréal

Targeted results

During Phase IV of the St. Lawrence Plan, the Access to Riverbanks Coordination Committee is to: 

• support the carrying out of five municipal projects aimed at accessibility of the St. Lawrence;* and
• proceed with rebuilding of maritime infrastructures promoting access to the St. Lawrence.**

The Committee has carried out an analysis of the supply to the St. Lawrence in relation to various activities (fishing, observing nature, swimming, boating, etc.), and this analysis will make it possible to paint a portrait of the available data and will be a useful tool for the next steps. This portrait, which should be available in the course of 2008 will then be examined in relation to the needs expressed not only by the members of the Coordination Committee, but also by users of the St. Lawrence and municipalities who are the first to intervene in the land management, in order to determine new projects to be developed. The Committee is developing an integrated management framework which should allow all partners (federal, Québec and municipalities) to coordinate their efforts.
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* These projects are aimed essentially at promoting access to fishing sites.

** From 2005 to October 2007, 15 projects were being carried out. They are aimed at rebuilding and transferring maritime infrastructures along the St. Lawrence and Richelieu rivers.

Overview of the Committee’s work

• For a St. Lawrence River accessible to all (2007/09/12)

Projects or publications stemming from the Committee’s work

Municipal projects

• Construction of an access ramp and purchase of wharfs at the mouth of the Saint-François River in Pierreville, in collaboration with the Corporation de développement du Bas-Saint-François

• Digging at the mouth of the Du Loup River at Lake Saint-Pierre, in co-operation with the city of Louiseville and the Action plein air corporation.

• Installation of breakwaters, stabilization of banks and construction of an access ramp and a path on the foreshore of Île-aux-Grues, in collaboration with the municipality of Saint-Antoine-de-l’Isle-aux-Grues.

Projects involving federal departments only

• By late March 2008, the projects had resulted in the repairing or stabilizing of 12 wharfs, 18 breakwaters and 21 shoreline properties that were then transferred to the municipalities interested in acquiring them. The wharfs of Grande-Rivière, Marsoui, Matane, Berthier-sur-Mer, Forestville, Sainte-Rose-du-Nord and Saint-Irénée are in this number.

• Fourteen sites have been transferred to municipalities. Ten of them are along the St. Lawrence, upstream from Île d’Orléans: they are at  Coteau-Landing, Longueuil, Saint-Lambert, Lanoraie, Champlain, Île d’Orléans, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Rimouski and Anse Saint-Jean. Four of the sites are along the Richelieu River; they are at Beloeil, Saint-Antoine, Saint-Denis and Saint-Ours.

• Mapping potential access related to uses of the St. Lawrence on Montreal Island.

Topics of interest

• Enhancing both shores of the St Lawrence River - The Québec and Chaudière-Appalaches ZIP Committee (February 2002)
  
• Restoring access to the river, a priority – The Québec and Chaudière-Appalaches ZIP Committee (March 1999)

For more information

To display a list of all the documents that have been published by the Access to Riberbanks component, follow this link to the Library page of the St. Lawrence Plan web site, then click the Components list box, choose Access to Riberbanks, and click the Search button.