From a useful St. Lawrence to a St. Lawrence for all

By Serge Villeneuve

To kick off the day's session, Serge Villeneuve, Adviser, Scientific Integration, with the Strategic Integration and Partnerships Division at Environment Canada gave an eloquent presentation on the history and state of the St. Lawrence. The objective of the presentation was to update participants on the St. Lawrence ecosystem in order to set the stage for the other activities to be held during the day.

It is hard not to speak in superlatives when describing the St. Lawrence. With the Great Lakes at its source and an initial flow of more than 6 500 m3/second, a rate unmatched by many rivers on this planet, this is a very special basin.

The St. Lawrence and its tributaries

At Quebec City, the tributaries of the St. Lawrence double the River's flow to 12 800 m3/second; this is not including the Saguenay and the North Shore tributaries, which add a few thousand cubic meters per second further downstream. Because we refer to some of these tributaries by their name alone—the Saguenay, the Saint-Maurice, the Richelieu and so on—do we then consider them to be rivers? The St. Lawrence can be navigated quite far upriver, but for the past 50 years, the seaway has gone as far as Lake Superior. All these features make the St. Lawrence a unique river.

Historical pressures

Owing to its size, the St. Lawrence had not raised any concerns about its exploitation until recently. We have long believed that it was an unlimited resource. The St. Lawrence is both a means of transportation and a workplace. We have exploited it unceasingly over the centuries, which resulted in a sharp decline in wildlife populations that exist in its surroundings. Some of these species have disappeared, as have some uses. Economic development along the St. Lawrence was synonymous with the development of hydropower and thus the construction of hydroelectric dams. This caused its bed to be diverted over 21 km (86% of its flow), thereby displacing thousands of riverside residents and changing many wildlife habitats, some to the point of extinction. Development work on the Seaway has exceeded that of the Panama Canal in its scale. A new lake, Lake St. Lawrence, was created. The only remaining rapids on the St. Lawrence are those of Lachine.

Encroachments also followed for the purposes of industrial, residential and agricultural transport and expansion. Dredged material from all sorts of sources, construction waste and even garbage were deposited into the River. However, the dams have also protected riverside populations from the risk of flooding.

Awareness of the protection of the St. Lawrence dates back to the 1970s and our preservation efforts have followed protection initiatives undertaken in the Great Lakes. A combined sewerage system was the norm for municipal and industrial sectors until Quebec's wastewater treatment program, Programme d’assainissement des eaux du Québec, was implemented in 1978.

In 1995, 20% of municipalities were still not treating their wastewater. It was not until the 1990s and the implementation of the first St. Lawrence Action Plan that wastewater from the agricultural and industrial sectors began to be treated.

Can something be majestic without being resilient?

In spite of past pressures, the St. Lawrence continues to enjoy an ecological integrity that other major rivers have lost. For decades now, it has been regarded with a dual lens: on the one hand, we enjoy it for its beauty, and wealth and focus our efforts on conserving its habitats and resources; on the other hand, we no longer have the same enthusiasm for activities in its waters. Current pressures are associated with toxic waste, all sorts of new compounds, nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), habitat fragmentation and loss, water level stabilization, invasive alien species, endangered species, shoreline erosion, usage conflicts, climate change, and oil and gas exploration and exploitation. Some pressures have been around for some time, while others have become more prominent in the past few years; we must also anticipate those that climate change will cause.

The State of the St. Lawrence Monitoring Program, launched in 2003, includes some of the indicators inherent to the "water," "sediment," "shoreline," "biological resources" and "uses" components. The overall picture shows that in spite of the many threats, the River continues to maintain its critical ecological functions and is home to healthy populations. Studies currently underway could shed light on additional indicators for an even more complete diagnosis. There has been progress in our efforts to conserve the St. Lawrence and restore the waterway's uses. One of the major successes is community participation. Never have so many players been involved in preserving the St. Lawrence: ZIP (priority intervention zone) committees, watershed organizations, municipalities, industries, farmers' unions, and various industries working in concert in the Port of Montréal. Navigation stakeholders have also agreed to adopt sustainable development strategies. These are all conservation success stories.

In terms of uses on the Route bleue, kayaking tours are being organized and certain beaches are open to the public, with others soon to be accessible as well. Striped bass is once again spawning naturally in the St. Lawrence and fishers are slowly returning to the River.

Is the geopolitical context making management of the St. Lawrence more complicated?

We are talking about two countries, eight states and two provinces. We still do not have a single agency to manage the St. Lawrence basins as of yet –– just sectoral agencies. The Great Lakes are perhaps somewhat more structured, but they too do not have a single agency. Integrated management of the St. Lawrence (IMSL) should cover the entire area and bring together players representative of the society in its whole.