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Broad issues on the State of the St. Lawrence
Progress report and future outlook for improving environmental monitoring
Accessibility: A question of compromise
Day 2 (Wednesday, June 14, 2006, 1:00 p.m.)
Moderator: Jean-François Bibeault, Environment Canada
Panellists:
Daniel Groulx, City of Montréal
Luc Bergeron, Comité ZIP (Area of Prime
Concern committee) Ville Marie
Jean-Éric Turcotte, Nature Québec
/ Union Québécoise pour la Conservation de la Nature
(UQCN) [Quebec Nature Conservation Union]
Panellist Presentations
Luc Bergeron, Comité ZIP Ville-Marie
Very recently, the Ville-Marie ZIP (for Zone d’Intervention Prioritaire) committee, in collaboration with the Jacques-Cartier ZIP committee and Héritage Laurentien, completed a study on the potential for, and limitations related to, current and future uses of bodies of water around Montréal. This study was part of the strategic planning for the City of Montréal’s Blue Network. Through this structured process, a large data mass was compiled on the biophysical aspects of Montréal’s shorelines and on the land-based and nautical use made of them. Information was georeferenced for each public or undeveloped segment of shoreline. For the five basins in the Blue Network, an inventory of existing activities and a walk-through of the state of banks indicate that interesting projects are underway to expand or consolidate developments, activities and conservation. In this regard, a number of towns and boroughs have already enhanced their shorelines—in itself, a step toward reappropriating use of the shoreline. This study revealed that numerous potential shoreline activities could improve existing developments. Expansion of the Blue Network will benefit all residents of Greater Montréal. Enhancing shorelines and bodies of water must be a collective project involving every borough and town. Among the targeted uses wenote an interest in swimming areas and in launching ramps for small boats.
Jean-Éric Turcotte, Nature Québec
Nature Québec is working on developing a monitoring activity relative to use of and access to the St. Lawrence, based on the use of access points (demand). The work begins this year on Lake Saint-Pierre (pilot area), with a view to validating observation tools and eventually organizing a network of “use observers” all along the St. Lawrence. The issue of responsibility must be added to the existing list of factors compromising shoreline accessibility: 90% of the population lives on the shores of the St. Lawrence or its tributaries. Accordingly, it is becoming difficult and pointless to seek to maintain access at any cost everywhere along the river. Several problems have contributed to reducing shoreline access: the artificialization (degradation) of riverbanks, the destruction of wetlands, areas of heavy erosion due to encroachment and wave action from passing boats, the disappearance of riparian buffer strips, and the abusive use of fragile habitats (wharves and all-terrain vehicles). Access to the river must be restored while minimizing the negative impacts. Solutions lie in improved area management aimed at protecting and maintaining the integrity of environments with special ecological value, to control access to them, and to avoid political inconsistency or regulatory permissiveness (e.g. permitting agro-industrial, commercial or residential development in sensitive areas). Integrated, long-term land-use planning could put the brakes on untrammelled shoreline development and foster the maintenance of buffer strips beyond the prescribed three metres, particularly in agricultural areas, and protect woodlands and forest corridors bordering rivers and lakes. In this regard, we note that although the need for them still exists, awareness-raising, information and training projects are no longer being funded to the extent they had been in the past.
Daniel Groulx, City of Montréal
Daniel Groulx is responsible for access planning for the development of Montréal and for coordination of the Blue Network. Montréal has more than 1 800 000 residents and its shorelines are very disturbed and artificialized. The Blue Network has numerous partners (boroughs, Parks Canada, Old Port of Montréal, ZIP committees, etc.). The challenge is to develop a shared approach. Thirty-two mayors and a range of federal and provincial government stakeholders are currently participating in discussions on this topic. Montréal has 315 km of shoreline, of which approximately 100 km is accessible. The Blue Network’s objective is to study target client groups, characterize shorelines, assess existing and potential access sites, and review legal aspects with a view to permitting increased, improved access to the river. This should result in significant economic impacts, possibly amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. One success story that deserves to be mentioned is the Archipelago project, under which the banks of the Lachine Canal were restored. It is considered a success because of its positive, significant spinoff impacts. It is anticipated that information on work done under the Blue Network in all of the areas involved, including Lake Saint-Louis, the Rivière des Prairies and the river corridor, will be available on line in the course of this year.
A number of elements emerged from the plenary session. The following are the major conclusions. On the one hand, it must be noted that when working to increase accessibility to the St. Lawrence, there are several factors to consider: the sustainability and quality of the environment, complementarity of uses, carrying capacity, and impacts on the environment. Among the significant attributes of use, it must be noted that the geographic distribution of access points is a function of specific characteristics of a river or lake (e.g. the shallow and relatively broad La Prairie Basin encourages activities such as sailboarding, but not pleasure boating in deep draught vessels, unlike Lake Saint-Louis). Moreover, access expansion in a context of integrated management presumes that developments are designed to minimize impacts on environmental quality and flora and fauna, with access location being a key factor in this regard. Solutions lie in improved land management, with protection and maintenance of certain environments that have particular ecological value included in long-term planning.
The PAEQ wastewater treatment program helped improve water quality
in the St. Lawrence in the Montréal sector. This improvement
has increased the market value of riverfront properties and, consequently,
has fostered the expansion of shoreline access in upscale areas.
The expansion of shoreline access first requires a reappropriation
of riverbanks by the municipalities or government authorities concerned.
Examples are the Lachine Canal in Montréal, the Des Rapides
Park in Lachine, the land bordering Île Bizard, and the Jacques-Cartier
beach park and Promenade
Samuel-de-Champlain in Québec City. Unless municipalities
appropriate shorelines, they risk losing recreational and tourist
attractions of great value. Municipalities should therefore create
a strategy to acquire riverfront lands in order to make them accessible
to the community. Sound land management involves long-term planning
and making elected officials aware of shoreline accessibility issues.
The expansion of river access to the public in some locations presents numerous difficulties, as on the south shore of Lake Saint-Pierre, for example. National Defence could transfer land to the Town of Nicolet, but removal of (ammunition) shells would be required to ensure public safety. The Rivière Saint-Jacques example might offer some solutions. In 2000, after lengthy negotiations between a local advisory committee and the Canada Lands Company (CLC), some land that was deemed surplus to CLC requirements was finally transferred to the town. Moreover, this should be the preferred practice, rather than transferring or selling land to private developers.
Over the past few years, there has been major expansion of public access in the Québec City area. One example is the Port of Québec, where land on Beauport Bay was deeded back to serve as a public space. The development of multiple small projects are to be favoured over megaprojects. In this regard, ZIP committees have been particularly active in developing low-cost projects that promote access to the shores of the St. Lawrence. With the Blue Network, the City of Montréal is adopting a strategic development view of access that will bear monitoring over the next few years, particularly to examine the ripple effect on other shoreline municipalities. In some cases, this involvement on the part of public authorities explains why new access is emerging in the area and whether or not it is used frequently. It is also frequently at the municipal level that supply and demand for access are brought into line.
Looking to the future, the expansion of riverfront access requires reappropriation of shorelines by municipalities or other government authorities concerned. This aspect certainly deserves more sustained attention in the context of the St. Lawrence Plan. Ultimately, river access and development of related uses must be addressed in a more integrated manner, taking a range of issues into consideration: privatization of shorelines; quality of water and landscape; physical difficulties involved in accessing sites and proximity of residents; cost for use; and public safety. These factors must be considered in order to find the compromises required to reconcile access supply and demand.
Date modified: 2008/05/01 – Important Notices
