Lake Erie Canadian Nearshore Assessment, 2018 Highlights and Results Report

Executive Summary

The Great Lakes nearshore is a key priority for restoration and protection. These waters provide a source of drinking water for most communities within the basin, are the area where most human recreation occurs, and provide a critical ecological link between watersheds and the open waters of the Great Lakes.

While efforts to restore and protect the Great Lakes have been largely successful over the last 50 years, water quality and ecosystem health in many nearshore areas continue to be degraded due to a variety of human-, climate- and invasive species-induced stressors.

The Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement includes a commitment to develop an integrated nearshore framework in the Great Lakes that provides an overall assessment of the state of the nearshore waters. Nearshore assessments provide the basis for determining factors and cumulative effects that are causing stress or threatening nearshore areas of high ecological value.

In 2018, Canada conducted an assessment of the state of nearshore waters in Lake Erie and connecting channels. The 2018 Highlights and Results Reports summarize the findings of cumulative stress across Lake Erie and the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair and Detroit River nearshore.

Overall, Lake Erie’s nearshore areas are under moderate to high stress. Across the north shore, the highest stress is in the west-central (Point Pelee East and Rondeau East Regional Units) and lower stress in the east. Areas of known ecological value, such as Point Pelee, Rondeau Bay and Long Point are threatened by cumulative stress in nearshore areas. Cyanobacteria blooms, which can produce toxins and can cause harm to human and ecosystem health, impact the western portion of Lake Erie and have previously been detected as far east as the Port Glasgow to Port Stanley Regional Unit (2013). In many areas, the cumulative impact of shoreline alteration and the construction of barrier structures plus the impacts of climate change are causing significant stress on nearshore ecosystems and leading to loss of natural resiliency to flooding and erosion.