St. Marys River: Area of Concern

The St. Marys River was designated as a binational Area of Concern (AOC) in 1987 under the Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Pollution from industrial and municipal wastewater along with changes to the watercourse led to its degraded water quality and environmental health. Nine out of 14 beneficial use impairments (BUIs) were identified, which measure the environmental, human health or economic impact of poor water quality. One additional beneficial use was deemed “requiring further assessment”, meaning more information was required to determine whether it was impaired.

Accomplishments

Over the past 30 years, there has been significant progress in restoring the water and environmental quality of the AOC. On the Canadian side, this includes:

Restoration of beneficial uses

Over the last decade, significant progress has been made to improve environmental conditions on the Canadian side. These beneficial uses are no longer considered “impaired”:

Work continues on restoring the remaining beneficial uses:

Recent actions

The overall health of the St. Marys River has continued to improve through these recent actions:

Remaining actions

We will continue to work with local and provincial partners to support restoration actions and the environmental monitoring and assessment studies needed to confirm environmental quality objectives are met. Priorities are to:

Outlook

The St. Marys River has seen significant progress towards restoration since its designation as an AOC. Under the Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health, we will work with the province of Ontario to continue making progress towards remediation, environmental recovery and restoration of beneficial uses. 

Our partners

On the Canadian side, we partner with other levels of government, non-government groups, Indigenous communities and members of the public. This restoration work requires a large amount of scientific and technical expertise, local knowledge, hard work and the help of:

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