State of the St. Lawrence Monitoring Program

State of the St. Lawrence Monitoring Program

Objectives

The State of the St. Lawrence Monitoring Program is a decision support tool for tracking the state of and changes in the St. Lawrence. Its aims are as follows:

• Pool the data collected and knowledge acquired by participants and collaborators during their ongoing environmental monitoring activities.
• Report on the state and evolution of the St. Lawrence using the scientific information generated.
• Regularly disseminate information to decision makers and riverside communities about the state and evolution of the St. Lawrence using means that are tailored to their needs and that facilitate access to information.

The program is based on about 20 environmental indicators corresponding to the following components:

• Water
• Sediment
• Biological resources
• Uses
• Shorelines

Participants

Government of Canada

• Environment and Climate Change Canada
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Parks Canada

Government of Quebec

• Department of Sustainable Development, Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change (MDDELCC)
• Department of Forests, Wildlife and Parks

Collaborator

• Stratégies Saint-Laurent

Key Findings

Overview of the state of the St. Lawrence 2014

The third Overview of the State of the St. Lawrence River, published in 2015, provides decision makers and riverside communities with an assessment of the state and evolution of the St. Lawrence, while also addressing broad environmental issues and the future outlook.

 
_{For descriptions of the pictograms, see the St. Lawrence Action Plan website, in the section titled “A Thorough Monitoring of the State of the St. Lawrence River” at http://planstlaurent.qc.ca/en/state_monitoring/monitoring_sheets.html.}

In 2014, the St. Lawrence River was found to be in a fragile balance. The majority of the indicators remained “moderate.”  Following the reintroduction of striped bass, significant progress was observed in the natural reproduction, growth and distribution of this species in the river. However, the St. Lawrence as a whole remains vulnerable. The beluga whale and northern gannet populations have shown a significant decline.

From 2003 to 2014, 67% of the indicators used in the three previous overviews (2003, 2008 and 2014) were assessed as “moderate” or “moderate to good.”
From 2008 to 2014, 43% of the common indicators remained stable. Of the remaining 57%, half deteriorated and half improved.

Rendez-vous Saint-Laurent

The Rendez-vous Saint-Laurent is one of the dissemination mechanisms for the State of the St. Lawrence Monitoring Program. It is an event held every three years that brings together experts and stakeholders from communities, non-governmental organizations, industry, universities, and the municipal, provincial and federal governments. Its objectives are as follows:

• Communicate the most recent results of the monitoring activities and the new elements of the State of the St. Lawrence Monitoring Program.
• Communicate new knowledge about the St. Lawrence generated by those results.
• Obtain feedback from users of the data and information.

The fourth edition of this event, whose theme was Rendez-vous Saint-Laurent: Un flot de connaissances, was held in March 2013 in Montreal, with 115 participants. The proceedings of the 2013 meeting are available on the SLAP website.

Monitoring sheets

Monitoring sheets present and analyze the data gathered by monitoring the state of the St. Lawrence for each environmental indicator. During the St. Lawrence Action Plan’s 2011–2016 programming cycle, 24 monitoring sheets were produced. They are available on the SLAP website.

The following are some of the monitoring sheets that have been published:

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• Polybrominated Biphenyl Ethers in the Suspended Matter and Sediments of the St. Lawrence River, 2013

Monitoring sheets will continue to be published as part of the 2016–2021 programming period.  Upcoming titles include the following:

• St. Lawrence Freshwater Fish Communities, 3rd ed.
• Toxic Contamination in Sediments: The Port of Quebec
• Toxic Contamination in Sediments: The Fluvial Section
• Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities, 3rd ed.
• Reintroduction of the Striped Bass into the St. Lawrence, 3rd ed.
• Land Cover along the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River, 2nd ed.
• Invasive Species

Lastly, to ensure continuous improvement, a few modifications were made to the State of the St. Lawrence Monitoring Program during the 2011–2016 programming cycle:

• Addition of new water-quality monitoring stations in the St. Lawrence River at Lavaltrie and Bécancour, and at the mouths of the Richelieu, Yamaska, Saint François, Nicolet and Saint Maurice rivers.
• Expansion of sediment characterization work to the Montreal–Sorel section and the Quebec City area.
• Addition of monitoring of invasive animal species found in saltwater.
• Expanded monitoring of benthic communities from Lake Saint François to Lake Saint Pierre.
• Improved dissemination tools: pictograms were created for each indicator, the content of the sheets was standardized, and results were presented in the form of conceptual diagrams.