In brief : Lake Ontario comes back, partnership brings back environmental progress

2 Pages·2000·0.04 MB·English

by  Ontario Ministry of the Environment

In Brief
July
2000
Ministry of the Environment programs and initiatives
Lake Ontario comes back:
partnership brings
environmental progress
Lake Ontario has been the scene of long­ the provincial, federal and municipal gov­
term partnership work by governments, ernments.
The environmental industry and local groups to restore and pro­
● The numerous species, including green
quality of Lake tect environmental quality. Scientific studies
frogs, Midland painted turtles, wood
show that the work is paying off.
Ontario is being pro­
ducks, muskrats, green herons, great blue
In a time of rapid economic growth, the
tected through collab­ herons and kingfishers, attracted to the
environmental quality of Lake Ontario has
oration between gov­ newly-created habitat at Toronto’s Tommy
continued to improve and is better today
ernments and the pri­ Thompson Park.
than it has been in decades.
vate sector in a long­
The improvement is the result of collabo­ ● Sightings of 64 species of birds breeding
term, international
ration by the Province of Ontario, the gov­ at Oshawa Second Marsh, including the
lakewide manage­
ernments of Canada and the United States, yellow billed cuckoo, northern harrier and
ment plan as well as
industries and communities in activities that American bittern — species that had not
individual remedial range from increased pollution control been seen at the marsh for years.
action plans. through lakewide management plans
● Recovery of the hard-hit Hamilton
(LaMPs) to the cleanup of individual areas of
Harbour to the point that aquatic life is
concern under remedial action plans (RAPs).
regenerating and, in some areas, the har­
Markers of progress bour is safe to swim in. Positive markers
include the recovery of 200 hectares of
Recent indicators of progress in Lake
wetland in the harbour and an increase in
Ontario’s comeback include:
the number of fish species from four to
● The reappearance of species of fish such 16. And, after an absence of 50 years,
as lake sturgeon, lake herring and deep­ wild celery is growing again in the Cootes
water sculpin – the sculpin were once so Paradise part of the harbour.
scarce they were feared to be extinct in
● Removal by the Ontario Ministry of the
Lake Ontario.
Environment, Environment Canada and
● The increase, since the 1980s, of bald other partners of 10,500 cubic metres of
eagle nesting territories in the Lake contaminated sediments from the Welland
Ontario basin at a rate of about 20 per River, which flows to the Niagara River
cent a year. leading to Lake Ontario.
● A decline in bacterial contamination from ● Dramatic improvement in water quality in
the highs of the 1960s and 1970s, with the Niagara River, Lake Ontario’s largest
beaches are staying open longer in the tributary, as a result of sustained pollution
summer, as a result of improved sewage cleanup and prevention efforts by four
treatment and other cleanup action by partner governments, Ontario, Canada,
Ministry of the Environment 1
In Brief
the United States and New York State. Note:
Scientific analyses of water quality, studies
Further information is available in
of contaminant levels in fish and shellfish
Environment Canada’s Third Report of
and tests of river sediments confirm the
Progress Under the Canada-Ontario Agreement
improvements, which include declines of
Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem
50 per cent or more overall in critical pol­
1997-1999 at the Web site
lutants and more than 98 per cent on the
http://www.cciw.ca/green-lane/coa/third­
Canadian side.
progress-report/intro.html.
● An increase in populations of birds that
nest in colonies, as revealed in a recent
For more information:
Lake Ontario-wide census by the Ontario
Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of the Environment

Canadian Wildlife Service and the New Public Information Centre

York State Department of Environmental [phone] or

Conservation. toll-free 1-800-565-4923

Internet: http://www.ene.gov.on.ca

● Steep declines in the volume of phospho­
rus and sediment entering Lake Ontario
tributaries. This includes the elimination,
since 1994, of 9,600 kilograms of phos­
phorus and 6,000 kilograms of sediment
that had been entering the Bay of Quinte
watershed. This feat has been achieved
through a major upgrading of sewage
plants at Belleville, Quinte West (Trenton
and Frankford), Prince Edward (Picton),
and Warkworth as well as by other reme­
dial actions in the watershed.
Ministry of the Environment PIBS: 3986E 07 - 2000 2
© Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2000