On June 21st, the DRCC hosted the 7th annual Detroit River Evening with Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change and other DRCC partners at the Windsor Yacht Club. The event started with the screening of the short Canada150 video ‘Eau Canada,’ developed by Canadian Heritage Rivers and singing O’ Canada. This video features the Detroit River and DRCC staff.
Claire Sanders, Detroit River Remedial Action Plan Coordinator provided updates on 2016/17 projects, and announced the release of both the 2016/17 Annual Report and the 2016/17 Pathway to Delisting. This is the working document that guides and inventories remediation action for the Detroit River. Tom Henderson, the DRCC Public Advisory Council Chair discussed issues such as cuts to GLRI funding, the Ojibway Shores property and the General Chemical site in Amherstburg.
Recovery of the Lake Sturgeon population in the Detroit River is a remarkable story. James Boase, Fish Biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service provided an excellent presentation discussing the keystone species and research that is being done to monitor and understand the population recovery.
With so many partners collecting a variety of information and research on different issues related to the Detroit River, there was a need for an innovative way to track it, map it and make it available for researchers and agencies to use and collaborate. In 2015, the University of Windsor took on this challenge. Alice Grgicak-Mannion from the Great Lakes Institute of Environmental Research provided an informative presentation on the Delist Areas of Concern (AOC) Metadata and Mapping System tool.
They keynote speaker, Marty Gervais is an award winning journalist, photographer, poet, playwright, historian, editor and teacher. His stories about the Detroit River are fascinating and show that the river does define the Windsor Essex community in it’s cultural, social, historical and natural heritage significance. Marty reminded everyone that when we share stories about the Detroit River, we can care for it.
The DRCC would like to thank everyone involved in the restoration of the Detroit River. This includes the multiple partners, organizations, businesses, active citizens and other supporters for another year’s work on cleanup initiatives. The DRCC would also like to thank all of the presenters, and especially for Marty Gervais for coming out and spending the evening with us talking about the Detroit River. Last, thank you to the Windsor Yacht Club for the accommodations, service, food and wonderful venue.
Detroit River Evening 2017 Gallery
Eco Adventure to Peche Island
DRCC partners went on an Eco Adventure hosted by Windsor Adventure Inc. to Peche Island on June 21 2017. The group included representatives from the DRCC, Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Friends of the Detroit River, DRCC PAC, Essex Region Conservation Authority, and individuals who are actively involved in restoring the Detroit River.
Peche Island marks the upper Detroit River and the entrance to Lake St. Clair. The island is just under 100 acres and was purchased by Hiram Walker in 1883. The property acquired by the City of Windsor from the Province of Ontario in 1999. The island is a naturalized park with walking trails that The island can only be accessed by boat, canoe, kayak or SUP. For anyone who visits Peche, they can experience significant cultural, historical and natural heritage unique to the area and the Detroit River.
The DRCC would like to especially thank Windsor Adventure Inc. for sending us on our Eco Adventure to Peche Island!
Eco Adventure Photo Gallery
State of the Great Lakes 2017 / État des Grands Lacs 2017
State of the Great Lakes 2017
The Governments of Canada and the United States are pleased to release the State of the Great Lakes 2017 Highlights Report. Overall, the Great Lakes are assessed as Fair and Unchanging. While progress to restore and protect the Great Lakes has been made, including the reduction of toxic chemicals, challenges remain with issues such as invasive species and nutrients.
Pursuant to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, Canada and the United States, together with their many partners, established a suite of 9 indicators of ecosystem health, supported by 44 sub-indicators, to assess the state of the Great Lakes. State of the Great Lakes assessments support the identification of current and emerging challenges to Great Lakes water quality and ecosystem health, help Governments evaluate the effectiveness of programs and policies in place to address challenges, and help inform and engage others.
Over 180 government and non-government Great Lakes scientists and other experts worked to assemble available data to populate the suite of indicators and sub-indicators and prepare assessment reports.
The State of the Great Lakes 2017 Technical Report will be available soon.
We appreciate and value your interest in the progress of Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Great Lakes programs. If you wish to update any of your contact information, or to be added or removed from this distribution list, please send an email to ec.grandslacs-greatlakes.ec@canada.ca with the following:
Your name, company or organization and mailing address
Your preference to receive documents in electronic or print format
Your email address
Anything else you would like to tell us, or ask about the Great Lakes!
As always, your details will be treated as privileged information and will only be used to distribute our Great Lakes information to you – our stakeholders. These distribution lists are never shared outside of Environment and Climate Change Canada.
État des Grands Lacs 2017
Les gouvernements du Canada et des États-Unis sont fiers de publier le rapport État des Grands Lacs 2017 – Faits saillants. L’évaluation globale des Grands Lacs est passable et inchangée. Bien que des progress aient été réalisés quant à la protection et à la restauration des Grands Lacs, notamment en ce qui a trait à la réduction des produits chimiques toxiques, plusieurs enjeux restent à régler, dont les espèces invasives et les èlèments nutritifs.
En vertu de l’Accord relative à la qualité de l’eau dans les Grands Lacs, le Canada et les États-Unis, de pair avec leurs nombreux partenaires, ont établi un ensemble de neuf indicateurs sur la santé de l’écosystème, appuyé par quarante-quatre sous-indicateurs, afin d’évaluer l’état des Grands Lacs. Les évaluations de l’état des Grands Lacs permettent de cerner les enjeux actuels et émergents touchant la qualité de l’eau des Grands Lacs et la santé de l’écosystème. Elles aident les gouvernements à évaluer l’efficacité des programmes et des politiques mis en œuvre pour régler les enjeux, et elles contribuent à informer et à mobiliser les autres intervenants.
Au total, plus de 180 scientifiques gouvernementaux et non gouvernementaux des Grands Lacs, ainsi que d’autres experts, ont réuni les données nécessaires pour alimenter la série d’indicateurs et de sous-indicateurs et ont travaillé à la préparation des rapports d’évaluation.
L’État des Grands Lacs 2017 – Rapport technique sera disponible sous peu.
Nous apprécions et estimons votre intérêt dans les progrès des programmes des Grands Lacs d’Environnement et Changement climatique Canada. Si vous souhaitez mettre à jour certaines de vos coordonnées ou que nous vous ajoutions ou retirions de cette liste de distribution, veuillez envoyer un courriel à ec.grandslacs-greatlakes.ec@canada.ca avec les renseignements suivants :
votre nom, le nom de votre entreprise ou de votre organisme et l’adresse postale;
votre préférence quant à la réception de document en version électronique ou en format papier;
votre adresse électronique;
tout autre renseignement que vous aimeriez nous indiquer ou toute question que vous aimeriez nous poser au sujet des Grands Lacs!
On Friday, June 16 and Saturday, June 17, the Canada Centre for Inland Waters is hosting an Open House in celebration of National Public Service Week and the 150th anniversary of Canada. Over 50 exhibits will be staffed by government scientific experts, members of the Coast Guard, plus enforcement officers with Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Additionally, lab tours are being offered to visitors from Monday, June 12th to Thursday, June 15th, for members of the public. Be sure to visit if you are in the area! Canada Centre for Inland Waters is located at 867 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, Ontario – under the Skyway Bridge.
Happy World Water Day! Did you know the Great Lakes are one of the world's largest surface freshwater ecosystems? We're extremely lucky to live in the great lakes basin which accounts for 21 percent of the world's freshwater. The lakes provide drinking water to millions of people in the United States and Canada. If you are located in Windsor, LaSalle, or Amherstburg, you likely get your drinking water from the Detroit River! Freshwater ecosystems our among our most vital resources on earth, and their protection and preservation are of paramount importance #WorldWaterDay#detroitriver#greatlakes#healthywatersheds#cleandrinkingwater#essexregion... See MoreSee Less
We are excited to roll up the sleeves and make a positive change along the Ganatchio Trail and Little River next month. Join us on April 13 between 10-12pm at Teedie Park, Windsor for our annual litter clean up. Registration is required as spots are limited due to high interest. Volunteer parking is available at Canadian Tire off of Tecumseh Road east. We ask volunteers to not park in the neighbourhood near Teedie Park. Funding for the Little River Cleanup has been provided by the Detroit River Canadian CleanupRegistration and more information: www.essexregionconservation.ca/event-details/little-river-litter-cleanup... See MoreSee Less
On Tuesday, February 20, 2024, the Detroit River Canadian Cleanup hosted their 14th Annual Film Screening Event at Imagine Cinemas in Lakeshore. This year, we featured two The Water Brothers documentaries – Paving over Paradise, a documentary on wetland loss, and The Forever Chemicals, a documentary on a group of chemicals called PFAS. Thank you to our expert panelists for sharing your expertise with our audience. Thank you to our audience for spending the evening with us and we hope you enjoyed the event. We were so impressed with the quality of questions, and were pleased to hear how much everyone cares about the health of our watersheds. Special thanks to Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks for helping to make this event possible, and to all the Essex Region Conservation staff and Imagine Cinemas for their support with the event. Thank you! ... See MoreSee Less
Meet the expert panelists for the PFAS - “Forever Chemicals” episode to be featured at our upcoming free film screening event on February 20.Our three panelists include Dr. Cheryl Murphy, Director, MSU Center for PFAS Research, Mark Burrows, Physical Scientist & Senior Project Manager, IJC - International Joint Commission Great Lakes Regional Office, and Abby Hendershott, Executive Director of the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.Registration is required and spaces are limited. For more information and to register, please visit our website: www.detroitriver.ca/movie. ... See MoreSee Less
Join us on Tuesday February 20th, 2024 at 7pm for a free screening of two Water Brothers documentaries at the Imagine Lakeshore Cinemas, 164 Commercia […]
The DRCC wants to hear your questions and comments on the redesignation of BUI #3 (Fish) and #5. We are planning to redesignate the BUIs from impaired […]
Get Involved!
From tree plantings and clean ups, to advocacy and education programs, CLICK HERE to find out how you can be involved with protecting and enhancing the Detroit River.
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