Plan St-Laurent - Pour un développement durable

• The St. Lawrence
  River in good hands
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Highlights

The agreement is renewed

The second round!

Following a successful initial action program from 1989 to 1993, the federal and Quebec governments signed a new five-year agreement for the protection and promotion of the St. Lawrence. The formal announcement on April 18, 1994, by federal and Quebec Environment Ministers Sheila Copps and Pierre Paradis, confirmed commitments made a year earlier to this second phase of the Canada-Quebec Agreement on the St. Lawrence of $100 million and $91 million respectively by the federal and Quebec governments.

This marked the transition from the St. Lawrence Action Plan to St. Lawrence Vision 2000, following on from Phase I but with a number of new aspects. The more global and more ecosystemic approach now included a component on human health, another on agriculture and a third on participation by riverside communities, as well as the four areas of intervention included in Phase I. The existing partners were also joined by several new ones.

In the health field, special attention would be given to monitoring risks associated with consumption of drinking water and aquatic products, as well as activities involving contact with the water. In the case of agriculture, the focus would be on non-point source pollution from heavily farmed watersheds, mainly caused by fertilizer and pesticide misuse, inadequate storage of manures and intensive farming practices that exacerbate soil erosion. Seven tributaries of the St. Lawrence would be given priority for action.

Last, as regards community participation, the new plan would rely on development of the emerging network of ZIP (area of prime concern) committees. These groups work with local populations through coordination and awareness activities, and they are also active in the field with specific projects designed to rehabilitate and develop the river. The Community Interaction Program providing financial assistance would be set up to support activities of ZIP committees and other community groups interested in submitting projects to benefit the St. Lawrence.

News release