The Grand River - Lake Erie Connection - Great Lakes Fishery ...

The Grand River -
Lake Erie Connection
From individual mandates toward
cooperative management
Great Lakes Urban Habitat
Restoration Symposium,
Chicago, January 2009
Warren Yerex – Grand River Conservation Authority
Tom MacDougall – Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources

Outline
• Scope
• Past Approaches
• Taking a Step Back
• Renewed Vision
• Moving Forward

The Lake
• Lake Erie: three basins; gradients west to east: (nutrients,
productivity, max depths /thermal habitat)
• Eastern basin: oligotrophic (ultra) with cool and coldwater
fish communities supporting both commercial and sport
fisheries
• Large urban centres: none on north shore; however
significant urban influences exist
West Central East
“cool” “cool”/(cold) “cool” & “cold”

The Watershed
The Grand River
Watershed
• Largest tributary on Canadian
side draining to Lake Erie
(approx. 25% of drainage)
• Approx. 7000 sq km
watershed made up of 7
major sub-basins; area larger
that PEI
• One of the fastest growing
regions in Canada
• Major urban centres
(Kitchener, Waterloo,
Cambridge, Guelph,
Brantford) occur > 80 km
upstream from the lake

The Watershed
• Largest area in central Canada
dependant on groundwater and
river for water supply
• 350,000 use Grand R. as water
supply
• 750,000 put treated effluent into
river
• Population expected to grow
(Green Belt, Places to Grow)
from 950,000 (2008) to 1. 5
million (2028)
• Directed growth (province)
concentrated in urban centres
(20% of watershed)
• 80% of land base is rural (large
proportion intensive agriculture)

The Lake-Watershed Connection
• GR water chemistry indicators
(nutrients) can be detected within the
lake nearshore (>10 km)
• Major contributor to loading
basinwide
• Thermal, Nutrient, Productivity,
Forage (?) effects

The Lake-Watershed Connection
• Lake seiche notable upstream in river
• River levels can increase ~2m
• Inundated floodplain / wetlands
• Measurable changes in water quality (chemistry / thermal regime)
175.4
175.2
River elevation below dam (m)
175.0
174.8
174.6
174.4
174.2
174.0
173.8
173.6
00:00 04:00 08:00 12:00 16:00 20:00
December 1, 2004

The Lake-Watershed Connection
• Grand River has a “drowned” river mouth
• River bed elevations < mean lake levels in lower 30+km of river
• The lowest river reach IS (essentially) Lake Erie
180
179
178
177
176
Elevation (m)
175
174
173
172
171
Dam Reservoir
Lake
Erie
170
169
Elevation of River Bed
168
167
166
40
Cayuga
30
20
Dunnville
10
0
Distance upstream from mouth (km)

Biotic Connections
Pic of walleye
MAIN RIVER CHANNEL
WETLANDS
LAKE SHORELINE
Lake Erie
• Main river channel as travel
corridor and source of substrate
for spawning migrations from
lake
• Main river channel and Wetlands
as nursery habitat for juveniles of
some lake-run species (walleye)
• Wetlands produce forage for lakerun
fish
• Nutrients from river influence
nearshore production
• Thermal plume in nearshore
influences lake shoal-spawning

Management Approaches
• Environment Canada
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Six Nations of the Grand River
• Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
• Ontario Ministry of the Environment
• Grand River Conservation Authority
• Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters
• Municipalities
• Local Conservation Clubs

Assessment / Restoration Pre-1998
• Upper River Reaches
• Stream habitat rehabilitation (local focus)
• Some assistance to agricultural communities
• Lower River Reaches
• Creation of fishway at Dunnville dam
• Introduction of spawning gravel below dam
• Fish hatchery and stocking
• Eastern Basin Fisheries
• Eastern Basin managed as part of lake as a whole (Ontario)
• Eastern Basin Water Quality
• Periodic nearshore and offshore monitoring
Picute of fishway

Watershed
Re-Thinking the Context
• Rural Water Quality Program (1998)
• Broadens its focus
• Surface water / Groundwater Model (1997)
• Links water and processes throughout the watershed
• Grand River Fisheries Management Plan („95-‟98)
• Acknowledges the watershed/lake connectivity
Provincial
• Lake Erie Eastern Basin 5-Year Plan (1998)
• Acknowledges the unique ecosystem and fish stocks of the eastern basin
Federal
• Lake Erie Lakewide Management Plan (2000)
• Adopts ecosystem approach (beyond critical pollutants)

Measuring the Connection
Information Gaps
• Lake : contributions from eastern basin nearshore,
embayments, tributaries to yellow perch and walleye fisheries
• River: fish community poorly understood
• Condition of lower river and lake nearshore Habitat
• Concrete example for LE LaMP
(watershed/lake connection)
• Funding from Environment Canada and
Canada-Ontario Agreement (COA)
• Multi-Partner approach

• 4 pictures of field crews etc

And the survey says:
• Grand River / Lake Erie fishery links
• Signs of walleye production ONLY in Grand River lower reach
• Eastern basin yellow perch abundant in all north shore bays and tributary mouths
EXCEPT Grand river
• Hyper–Eutrophic: lower river each = extremely high nutrient loads
• Urban inputs impact lower river reach and nearshore (seasonal importance
urban /vs agriculture)
• Dam more than just fish barrier:
• Disconnection for sediment, natural hydrology
• Reservoir blocks lake seiche
• Reservoir amplifies eutrophic consequences = ANOXIA and temperature
extremes
• Grand River walleye stock genetically unique and unable to efficiently use
fishway
• Low habitat diversity (particularly plant communities)

Consequences
• Links between nutrient loads, anoxia events and
nearshore cladophora growth
• Low diversity in the fish community
• Some historic species extirpated (sturgeon,
muskellunge)
• Grand River Walleye stock significantly under
producing
• Wetlands not functional
• Ecosystem Compromised

Hydrologic issues
Low flows
(climate, water taking/reservoir discharge)
Increased retention times (dams)
-reduced water
column mixing
-thermal structure
with depth
Period
s
of low
oxygen
High nutrients
(point and non-point inputs of
phosphorus/nitrogen)
High sediment
load
(erosion / disturbed
clay landscape)
Total
suspended
solids
Loading and Eroding issues
reduced
PAR at
depth
Planktonic
algae
(abundant)
macrophytes (low)
Deposition
areas
Zooplankton
(large grazers absent)
reduced
habitat
structure
Substrate disturbing, plant
uprooting, generalist fish
species
Benthic invertebrates
(low diversity, pollution tolerant
individuals)
Freshwater
Mussels
(impacted?)
Fish Community
(low diversity, pollution
tolerant individuals)
Habitat
Fragmentation
Issues
-reset of dynamic gradient (RCC)
-Upstream areas separated from water
level variation associated lake levels

Better informed restoration
• Develop restoration priorities and plans within
an ecological context.
• Extent of problems
• Severity of problems
• Causation / sources of problems
• Jurisdictions of problems (not finger pointing;
getting the right people at the table)

Better informed restoration
• Connecting fragments in subwatersheds;
Taquanyah reservoir
and Pike Creek
Lake Erie

Better informed restoration
• Transfer of adult walleye above
barrier at Dunnville (more effective
than fishway)
• Continued support of upstream water
quality improvements with an eye
toward lower reach improvements

Better informed restoration
• Port Maitland Pier Reconstruction
• Incorporate break to promote
nearshore thermal plume in spring

Southern Grand River Ecosystem
Restoration Working Group
• Multiple Agencies and Groups around the table
• Vet the gathered information through experts
• Collate and disseminate findings to public and
partners
• Elevate large scale projects to higher levels
• Moving toward creation of Steering committee
and Technical committee to guide future
restoration with a watershed wide perspective

For further information contact
Warren Yerex – wyerex@grandriver.ca
Tom MacDougall – tom.macdougall@ontario.ca