The Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan Restoration Council has met another environmental challenge, bringing it another step closer to having the bay removed from the Great Lakes Area of Concern list.
The council has received confirmation that the status of Degradation of Aesthetics has been changed from impaired to unimpaired.
Staff from Quinte Conservation and Lower Trent Conservation collected water samples from 215 sites around the bay evaluating them in four categories, needing an overall score above nine to be considered excellent.
In 2018 and 2019, the bay achieved scores of 9.5 and 9.8 respectively.
Eight of the original eleven environmental challenges identified for the bay have now been resolved with the three remaining challenges in the process of either having final reports compiled or a final analysis of the scientific data.
The Bay of Quinte was designated an Area of Concern in 1985 by the International Joint Commission under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between Canada and the United States.
It will be removed from the list once the status of all 11 challenges have been improved.
The Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan is in partnership locally with Lower Trent Conservation and Quinte Conservation.
“These are exciting times for the Bay of Quinte Restoration Council. After several decades of rehabilitation in the Bay, we have changed the status of a number of the environmental challenges. Now it is important to ensure strategies are in place, so the Bay doesn’t revert to conditions that required a remedial action plan originally,” says Rhonda Bateman, CAO of Lower Trent Conservation and co-chair of the BQRAP Restoration Council.
“The Bay of Quinte is a huge economic driver for the area and the source of drinking water for thousands of area residents. Reaching this milestone in rehabilitating the bay is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our federal, provincial, and municipal partners, as well as industry, agriculture, the public, and local conservation authorities,” says Brad McNevin, CAO of Quinte Conservation and co-chair of the BQRAP Restoration Council.
Belleville waterfront. (Photo: Lower Trent Conservation)
