Lower Welland River Characterization Report - Niagara Peninsula ...

Lower Welland River Study Area
Characterization Report
Water Quality
Niagara River Area of Concern
In 1987 the International Joint Commission (IJC) designated the Niagara River as one of 43 Areas
of Concern (AOCs) around the Great Lakes Basin due to its degraded water quality impairing
complete use of its resources. The AOC spans both the Canadian and American Niagara River
watersheds. The Canadian Niagara River AOC includes the 58 kilometre long Niagara River to
the international border and the Welland River drainage basin (Figure 10). The Welland River is
the largest tributary of the Niagara River and its drainage basin accounts for approximately 80
percent of the AOC (Canada).
Water quality issues in this AOC stem from sedimentation and toxic contaminants from industry,
municipal sources of heavy metals, nutrients and other toxic pollutants, urban and rural runoff, and
combined sewer overflows (NPCA 2002). As a result of the poor water quality many Beneficial Use
Impairments (BUIs), as outlined in the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (1987), have been
identified.
In response to concerns over the health of the entire Niagara River watershed and its ecosystem,
a Remedial Action Plan (RAP) was created with representation from various stakeholders including
the federal and provincial governments, resource agencies and the public (NPCA 2000). The
Remedial Action Plan uses an ecosystem approach to environmental decision-making that
involves three stages. The first stage, completed in 1993 (Environmental Conditions and Problem
Definition), included a detailed assessment of environmental problems and their sources in the
AOC and the extent of the impairments. In the Stage 2 report, (The Cleanup Connection 1995), the
representatives of the RAP identified goals and objectives; made recommendations to achieve the
goals; and proposed an implementation strategy to address the recommendations (Niagara River
RAP 1995). In 2000, Implementation Annex (NPCA) was published and along with The Cleanup
Connection (Niagara River RAP 1995) completed Stage 2 of the RAP. The Implementation Annex
identified responsible stakeholders for the implementation of the recommendations; provided a
schedule of activities, timelines and project costs (NPCA 2000).
Since the release of the 1995 Stage 2 report, and with various implementation activities completed
or ongoing within the AOC, the outstanding questions that need to be addressed now are: “What
remains to be done in order to delist the Niagara River (Ontario) as a Great Lakes AOC?” and
“How long will it take to achieve delisting?” Many changes have occurred during that time with
regard to environmental conditions within the AOC; remediation technologies; advances in
analytical capabilities; advances in scientific understanding of environmental issues; and, the
programs and priorities of RAP partners.
To answer these questions, government agencies and RAP partners felt it was necessary to
review and update the RAP. With assistance from Technical Committees, a Steering Committee
and a Public Advisory Committee, a full review of the Stage 2 report was initiated in 2004 to
determine the status of implementation activities, identify any information gaps that require
monitoring and assessment, and to focus all actions under the RAP towards delisting.
The Stage 2 Update report (2009) is a product of this review. It provides an update to the Stage 2
(1995) report and contains a summary of progress and several significant efforts which have taken
place over the past nineteen years. It also contains the current status of impairments in the AOC
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