Great Lakes Governance Reform for Place-based Regeneration of the Natural and Built Environment

Canadian municipalities are confronted by challenges related to continued growth, climate change and aging infrastructure, and the increasingly limited ability of receiving waterways to absorb the impact of stormwater runoff and pollution. There is increased recognition that integrated water, wastewater and stormwater management is required to ensure cost-effective water services as well as sustainable water resources to support public health, economy and environment now and in the future. In particular, this is a defining moment for the Great Lakes St. Lawrence region, with the opportunity to update the approaches taken for ecosystem improvement and protection in the region. The outcome of a 2007 review of the binational Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement resulted in a broad call for revisions to the Agreement, so that it can once again serve as a visionary document driving binational cooperation to address both long-standing and emerging Great Lakes environmental issues in the 21st century. The focus of the new agreement emphasizes the creation of a nearshore framework. While this term is still undefined, it reflects a policy need for a framework for scientific cooperation in the nearshore zone. In parallel, there is a need for a governance framework that enables place-based decision making for appropriate interventions, in order to promote resilience at the land-water interface. Governance frameworks for integrated water management are limited in Canada, and this research seeks to identify the most promising models

Réforme de la gouvernance des Grands Lacs pour la revitalisation adaptée au milieu à la fois naturel et bâti

Les municipalités canadiennes sont confrontées aux défis liés à la poursuite du développement, au changement climatique et au vieillissement des infrastructures, ainsi qu’à la capacité de plus en plus réduite des étendues d’eau réceptrices à absorber l’impact du ruissellement pluvial et de la pollution. On s'accorde de plus en plus à reconnaître qu’il faut faire appel à la gestion intégrée des eaux, des eaux usées et des eaux pluviales afin d’assurer la rentabilité des services d’eau et la viabilité des ressources hydriques et d’appuyer, dès maintenant et à l’avenir, la santé publique, l’économie et l’environnement. En particulier, il s’agit d’un tournant décisif pour la région des Grands Lacs et du Saint-Laurent, puisqu’on a la possibilité d’actualiser les approches adoptées pour l’amélioration et la protection des écosystèmes de la région. L’examen de 2007 de l’Accord relatif à la qualité de l’eau dans les Grands Lacs, un accord binational, s’est soldé par de nombreux appels à la révision de l’Accord afin qu’il procure de nouveau une vision alimentant la collaboration binationale qui permettra d’aborder, au 21e siècle, les enjeux environnementaux des Grands Lacs à la fois anciens et émergents. Le nouvel accord met l’accent sur la création d’un cadre des eaux littorales. Quoique ce terme n’ait pas encore été défini, il reflète, du point de vue des politiques, la nécessité de mettre en place un cadre de collaboration scientifique pour la coopération concernant la zone des eaux littorales. Parallèlement, on a également besoin d’un cadre de gouvernance qui privilégie le processus décisionnel adapté au milieu dans le contexte d’interventions appropriées, afin de favoriser la résilience de l’interface terre-eau. Comme les cadres de gouvernance pour la gestion intégrée des eaux sont peu nombreux au Canada, cette recherche vise à dégager les modèles les plus prometteurs

The in vitro influence of the burrowing polychaete Nereis diversicolor on the fate of petroleum hydrocarbons in marine sediments

The in vitro fate of the saturated hydrocarbon fraction (SF) of Arabian Light crude oil has been studied in PVC cores filled with a coastal marine sediment defaunated by sieving. Experiments were conducted in absence or presence of polychaetes Nereis diversicolor. The luminophore tracer technique was used to quantify the mixing of sediment by worms. Presence of crude oil reduced the building of burrows by polychaetes. This work demonstrates the ability of infaunal organisms to stimulate both downard and outward transfers of hydrocarbons from sediment reservoirs. In non-bioturbated sediment hydrocarbons were confined to the sediment surface. Introduction of polychaetes in sediment (1) induced the burying of SF in sediment (2.5 % and 13.5 % of the initial surface input after 15 and 45 days, respectively); (2) enhanced the exportation of SF in the overlying water (plus 59 % and 23.5 % compared to defaunated control sediment after 15 and 45 days, respectively). Buried hydrocarbons were submitted to biodegradation, from 2 cm to 10 cm depth in polychaete burrows, after 45 days

Use of axial tomography to follow temporal changes of benthic communities in an unstable sedimentary environment (Baie des Ha! Ha!, Saguenay Fjord)

In the upper layer of the sediment column, organic matter recycling is greatly influenced by bioturbation. However, there are many physical changes in the nature of the sediment that may disturb benthic communities and create a biogeochemical imbalance. Following a very heavy rainfall between 26 and 29 July 1996, an intense flash flood in the Saguenay Fjord caused discharges of 6 million cubic metres of sediments into Baie des Ha! Ha!. Unstable sediment deposits located at the top of the delta of the Rivie`re des Ha! Ha! were sporadically exported to the deep basin. After this physical disturbance, meiobenthic and macrobenthic organisms progressively re-colonised the sediment column. To determine the impacts of such sedimentary depositions on benthic fauna, two stations, one at the head and one at the mouth of the Baie des Ha! Ha!, have been monitored since 1996. During this survey, we developed a new method for the quantification of biogenic structures using computer axial tomography (CAT-Scan). Benthic fauna analysis showed that the two stations were characterised by different temporal changes in the benthic dynamics according to their geographic location. Using CAT-Scan analysis of sediment cores, we were able to characterise the stability of the sediment column for the two stations in 1999 and 2000. Scan results suggest that colonisation processes were closely linked with the stability of the sediment column. Erosion and redeposition of surficial sediments caused a succession in the formation of biogenic structures. These variations were characterised for the first time using CAT-Scan, which is a nondestructive, rapid, and precise method. Tomographic analysis showed the importance of the production and destruction rates of biogenic structures and the sedimentation rate for the preservation of burrows and potentially reactive components. This study finally demonstrated that each erosional event could be followed by a rapid formation of biogenic structures, allowing the re-oxidation of old deposits

Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: Rapid degradation of the world\u27s large lakes

Large lakes of the world are habitats for diverse species, including endemic taxa, and are valuable resources that provide humanity with many ecosystem services. They are also sentinels of global and local change, and recent studies in limnology and paleolimnology have demonstrated disturbing evidence of their collective degradation in terms of depletion of resources (water and food), rapid warming and loss of ice, destruction of habitats and ecosystems, loss of species, and accelerating pollution. Large lakes are particularly exposed to anthropogenic and climatic stressors. The Second Warning to Humanity provides a framework to assess the dangers now threatening the world\u27s large lake ecosystems and to evaluate pathways of sustainable development that are more respectful of their ongoing provision of services. Here we review current and emerging threats to the large lakes of the world, including iconic examples of lake management failures and successes, from which we identify priorities and approaches for future conservation efforts. The review underscores the extent of lake resource degradation, which is a result of cumulative perturbation through time by long-term human impacts combined with other emerging stressors. Decades of degradation of large lakes have resulted in major challenges for restoration and management and a legacy of ecological and economic costs for future generations. Large lakes will require more intense conservation efforts in a warmer, increasingly populated world to achieve sustainable, high-quality waters. This Warning to Humanity is also an opportunity to highlight the value of a long-term lake observatory network to monitor and report on environmental changes in large lake ecosystems

The Great Lakes, a 35th year anniversary; time to look forward

The year 2007 marks the 35th Anniversary of the Canada-US Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). On April 15, 1972, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and President Richard Nixon signed the GLWQA. This Agreement expresses the commitment of Canada and the United States to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the waters of the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem. The GLWQA has had substantial influence on the cleanup and restoration of the region. The progress made since 1972 is evidenced by the documentation by scientists of the presence of spawning lake whitefish, the resurgence of cormorant population, the rediscovery of sturgeon populations, and the return of nesting and fledging bald eagles. Threats to the Great Lakes in the face of climate change, invasive species, habitat loss, and more, demand a renewal and revitalization of the GLWQA. The time is now to renovate the binational promises

The Great Lakes, a 35th year anniversary; time to look forward

The year 2007 marks the 35th Anniversary of the Canada-US Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). On April 15, 1972, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and President Richard Nixon signed the GLWQA. This Agreement expresses the commitment of Canada and the United States to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the waters of the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem. The GLWQA has had substantial influence on the cleanup and restoration of the region. The progress made since 1972 is evidenced by the documentation by scientists of the presence of spawning lake whitefish, the resurgence of cormorant population, the rediscovery of sturgeon populations, and the return of nesting and fledging bald eagles. Threats to the Great Lakes in the face of climate change, invasive species, habitat loss, and more, demand a renewal and revitalization of the GLWQA. The time is now to renovate the binational promises