Province announces $6 million for Great Lakes conservation projects
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The Ontario government announced a new, $6-million investment in projects to protect, conserve and restore the Great Lakes as part of its Great Lakes Program during a news conference in Napanee on Monday morning.
The money is being provided to 30 different multi-year projects led by community groups, conservation authorities, universities and not-for-profit and Indigenous organizations.
Included is $162,791 for Quinte Conservation to reduce algae and manage phosphorus in the Bay of Quinte, and $65,000 for the Lower Trent Region Conservation Authority to work with area farmers to reduce runoff from farmlands and improve water quality.
The St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences is receiving $402,187 for projects that will “continue monitoring mercury in fish, sediment and industrial sites to make sure cleanup actions in the St. Lawrence River Area of Concern were effective and support the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne to study the health of Lake Sturgeon and Eel,” a news release from the province said.
Those projects will “support commitments in the Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health and Ontario’s Great Lake Strategy,” the release stated.
David Piccini, Ontario’s minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, announced the funding at a Napanee farm on Monday alongside representatives from local conservation authorities, agricultural organizations and provincial and municipal governments.
Piccini described the “tremendous benefit” that the Great Lakes provide to the province of Ontario and its residents, supporting millions of jobs, generating 80 per cent of the province’s electricity, providing habitat for unique ecosystems and sustaining Indigenous traditions, as well as providing a source of drinking water for much of the province’s population and supporting 95 per cent of Ontario’s agricultural lands.
“Our government knows that the Great Lakes and (their) watersheds are vital to the province, and we know that we have a responsibility to protect, conserve and restore them,” Piccini said, pointing out that since 2018 the Ontario Government had invested $62.7 million in 550 projects to “safeguard the Great Lakes.”
The Bay of Quinte has been identified as an “area of concern” in the Great Lakes region since 1985. According to the Government of Canada website, the region’s biggest challenge has been the management of nutrients, specifically phosphorus, in municipal wastewater effluent, stormwater runoff and agricultural runoff, leaving the water quality and environmental health “severely degraded.”
But in recent years, the Bay of Quinte has made “significant progress” towards recovery, thanks to the Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan and support of both federal and provincial governments, according to Anne Anderson, the manager of community and outreach projects with the Lower Trent Region Conservation Authority.
“Today, the Bay of Quinte is a healthy and vibrant ecosystem,” Anderson said. “Of the 10 original beneficial use impairments attributed to the Bay of Quinte, there are only three remaining, and they are close to being delisted. Two of the remaining beneficial use impairments are tied to excess nutrients, particularly phosphorus, in the Bay of Quinte. The delisting of these impairments in the Bay of Quinte will be tied to a long-term phosphorus management plan, which will require actions from a broad range of stakeholders, including agricultural property owners.”
Piccini said that delisting the areas of concern in the Great Lakes is a “significant focus of our government.”
“Working with our partners, we are committed to completing all cleanup actions for the areas of concern by or before 2026,” he said.
Piccini announced the funding beside a field of crops at Kaiser Lake Farms, a commercial egg farm that houses 31,000 laying hens and crops 1,100 acres along the shores of Hay Bay in the southern end of Greater Napanee.
Kaiser Lake Farms has been working with the Lower Trent Region Conservation Authority to reduce the quantities of excess nutrients from their farmlands entering the Bay of Quinte watershed.
“We’ve been farming here for about 53 years, and in that time we’ve seen water flowing over the land and taking soil with it, and a lot of the practices we do, one of the cornerstones, is protecting that topsoil,” Max Kaiser, farm owner, said Monday. “It’s a precious resource. Protecting the soil also protects the waterways.”
Katrina Furlanetto is the general manager for Cataraqui Conservation, which works alongside Quinte Conservation to protect the Bay of Quinte Watershed area in Greater Napanee. She said the announcement was a positive sign that the Ontario government is willing to work with conservation authorities and other partners for future and long-term projects.
“I think it’s a good starting point, being open to the conversation, seeing support of ongoing programs and being open to understanding the results of the monitoring and the data,” she said. “There’s always room for growth, there’s always room for strengthening those relationships moving forward.”
The collaborative focus is important as well, Furlanetto expressed.
“All of the different systems connect,” she said. “Whether you’re in the Bay of Quinte, whether you’re in Lake Ontario, Lower Trent or Cataraqui, they all feed into a larger Great Lakes system, and so it’s important to have programs like this be the foundation to help us move our programs forward.”
Great Lakes Program funding is also being provided to Chiefs of Ontario, Anishinabek Nation and Metis Nation of Ontario, as well as 11 First Nations and Métis communities for Great Lakes water quality projects.
Piccini recently co-chaired a meeting of the Great Lakes Guardian Council. During that meeting, the province announced $1 million to support 14 new Great Lakes projects with First Nations and Metis communities.
The projects support First Nations and Metis “taking more action and active collaborative role in the design, development and implementation of Great Lakes protection,” Piccini said.
“Our Indigenous partners have had a long history of protecting the land, and the next best group to do that is our farmers,” Ric Bresee, MPP for Hastings–Lennox and Addington, said during the media event. “Farmers have a vested interest in protecting our lands, protecting our waters, and in doing so also have the minor little task of feeding all of us. Having partnerships with our Indigenous First Nations, our farmers, the conservation authorities that are here today, the ministry — it takes all partners to make this happen.”
Piccini thanked the representatives present from local conservation authorities, agricultural organizations and municipal government for their roles in protecting the Great Lakes, pointing out that the work that needs to be done will require a joint effort.
“We know we have more to do,” Piccini said. “We’re seeing extreme weather events, that climate change is affecting every one of us, and we all have a role to play in combating this. That role starts with getting out and listening, with working in partnership with conservation authorities, working in partnership with Ontario’s agriculture communities.”
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