Response to the following…

Response to the following document:
The Canada Ontario Draft Action Plan – Partnering in Phosphorus Control: Achieving Phosphorus Reductions in Lake Erie from Canadian Sources

Background: The Nature Conservancy of Canada is a national charitable organization focused on conserving high priority natural areas across the country. Since 1962, NCC has helped secure and protect 2.8 million acres of land across Canada. In Ontario, NCC is currently implementing 15 Natural Area Conservation Plans (NACPs). Of these 15 NACPs, 14 are implementing high priority acquisition and conservation actions in the Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake Huron and Lake Superior watersheds. 3 NACPs encompass watersheds draining into Lake Erie – specifically Pelee Island (Western Lake Erie Islands Natural Area), a large portion of southern Essex County (Essex Forests and Wetlands Natural Area) and the southern portion of Bayham Township and Norfolk County (Southern Norfolk Sand Plain Natural Area).
Key conservation actions implemented through NACPs that are most relevant to the Draft Action Plan are the conservation and restoration of wetlands, riparian areas, bottomlands and associated uplands in agricultural landscapes. The loss of wetlands (often exceeding 70% in areas of southern Ontario) and natural cover in our watersheds is a contributor to the phosphorus issues in our Great Lakes, particularly Lake Erie. Wetland restoration (via resculpting topography, removing drain tiles and blocking drains on former agricultural land, and the installation of water control structures) has been a particular focus of our work near Long Point draining into the Eastern Basin of Lake Erie and in the Southern Norfolk Sand Plain NACP. To date, about 70 acres of wetland and 1,340 acres of terrestrial habitat has been restored along Big Creek and Dedrick Creek and their tributaries.
The Draft Action Plan provides an opportunity for various sectors to comment, contribute and commit to action delivery and is a good first step towards a final plan to improve the health of Lake Erie. Achieving progress towards the reduction targets set out in the Canada Ontario Draft Action Plan will take commitment from multiple sectors, leadership, coordinated effort, and resources. The comments below are some considerations on how to strengthen the plan in a few key areas.

General Comments:
•There are no timelines associated with any of the actions identified in the plan or milestones for achievement.
•Several actions identified in the plan are described as actions to reduce phosphorus loading. The next step would be to determine what reductions are anticipated from implementation of these actions.
•The plan references existing programs that support stewardship activities that may contribute to the reduction in phosphorus. Continuing with existing, successful programs is encouraged but the status quo will not achieve the phosphorus reductions proposed. Commitments by Ontario, Canada and other partners to expand programs that result in reductions of phosphorus loadings are needed and will require substantial additional resources in order to achieve measurable progress towards reduction targets. This would include long term funding and extension programs to deliver strategic stewardship and Best Management Practices.
•Cladophora is a major health issue in the Eastern Basin of Lake Erie yet the plan does not have a target for this section of the Lake, or specific tactics.

Category A: Reduce Phosphorus Loadings
A1: Support watershed and nearshore-based strategies and community-based planning for reducing phosphorus loadings
•Numerous plans and working groups have been established over the years to address nutrient loading and the health of Lake Erie. A review of community-based, government and non government plans should be considered before more planning documents are developed to guide work.
•There is often a strong reliance on voluntary actions in community-based plans. While new programs are proposed, the plan does not address resourcing which is a limiting factor for implementing actions defined in plans addressing the health of Lake Erie.
•Eastern Habitat Joint Venture – while work implemented under the EHJV will continue to target wetland conservation and stewardship throughout Ontario as funds are available, additional resources are needed to ramp up the impact of these efforts and direct focus to Lake Erie.
A2: Reduce phosphorus loadings from urban areas
•An action missing from this section is collaborative effort to ensure wetlands that perform critical functions such as flood attenuation and nutrient filtration are protected from conversion. Southern Ontario has lost 70% of its historical wetland cover due to residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural conversion. As southern Ontario’s urban areas expand, it is critically important to ensure remaining wetlands, and their functions, are protected. This requires going beyond the “no net loss” concept to ensure wetlands with irreplaceable functions are not converted under a commitment to create new elsewhere.
A3: Reduce phosphorus loadings from agricultural and rural areas
•While programs are in place to implement BMPs as described, an assessment of the effectiveness of these funding programs and other incentive based programs should be considered. Such an assessment would help determine the extent to which the programs are reducing phosphorus sources, what factors influence adoption of BMPs and how to build on these in order to achieve a coordinated collective effort that will reduce nonpoint source pollution at the scale necessary to ultimately achieve phosphorus reduction goals (i.e., what are the limiting factors for uptake? The Environmental Farm Plan has been around for many years and promotes and supports multiple BMPs. How can uptake of these BMPs be increased?)
•The industry-led 4R program is an innovative, collaborative approach that has great potential to help reduce phosphorus loadings
•Actions identified to address the greenhouse sector and the Leamington and Thames River in particular seem relevant to the broader agricultural landscape (i.e. education, awareness, innovation, monitoring, cost-shared investments, and regulatory compliance and enforcement)
•The Conservation Land Tax Incentive Plan (CLTIP) and 50 Million Tree program do not specifically support stewardship activities that will lead to reductions of phosphorus in Lake Erie. CLTIP is an existing tax relief program available to any landowner that has Provincially Significant Wetland, Endangered Species Habitat, and Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest on their property. This tax program is an important incentive in protecting designated natural areas but does not provide additional water quality benefits nor does it promote restoring degraded or drained wetlands or increasing natural cover. The 50 Million Tree program provides cost sharing opportunities for Conservation Authorities and private landowners interested in reforesting their properties. While this program does increase forest cover, a program with a focus on restoring wetland and riparian areas in priority watersheds, with allocated resources, would be more strategic. For example, in riparian areas a buffer of native herbaceous plants may be more appropriate than tree planting for filtering runoff and providing valuable pollinator habitat in an agricultural setting
•The Lakes and Rivers Improvement Act (LRIA) is the provincially body of law that governs all aspects of dam management (design, construction, maintenance, decommissioning). LRIA requires dam owners to have engineered drawings for most work, and navigating the process can be time-consuming and inefficient. The requirements for dam decommissioning, for example, can be cost prohibitive for private landowners. The Province should be prepared to work with landowners interested in dam management that benefits water quality to develop solutions that are compatible with the objectives of LRIA and cost effective for the landowner.
Category B: Ensure Effective Policies, Programs and Legislation – B1: Support and strengthen policies, program and legislation
•The concept of “no net loss” does not address situations where wetlands are irreplaceable.
Site conditions are often key to wetland function and cannot easily and effectively be created elsewhere. Wetlands providing critical water quality, water retention, flood control and erosion reduction services cannot contribute the same service/benefits if moved to another watershed/subwatershed. A “net gain” would contribute to phosphorus reduction goals.

There are several actions outlined under the actions in this plan that NCC can contribute to by way of our work in our priority Natural Areas, and along the north shore of Lake Erie.
•NCC will continue to strategically conserve and restore lands in the Essex Forests and Wetlands, Southern Norfolk Sand Plain and Western Lake Erie Island Natural Areas that will contribute to reducing nonpoint sources of phosphorus. Per action A3-5., NCC is well positioned to increase our impact by working with Ontario to implement restoration of native habitats including wetlands and riparian habitat.
•NCC will participate with and support partners to undertake initiatives that are actively looking for solutions to Lake Erie’s water problems.
•NCC will conduct a review and assessment of the numerous plans developed by government and non-government organizations directed at improving the health of Lake Erie and protecting and conserving the Lake Erie ecosystem to help guide our work along the north shore of Lake Erie.
•NCC has been addressing water quality and improving watershed health through its work to restore natural habitats along creeks and streams. NCC will investigate opportunities to measure and model the water quality and quantity benefits of our restoration work.
•NCC will continue to control phragmites on our lands and work with partners to control this invasive wetland plant in large coastal wetland and associated watersheds on the north shore of Lake Erie

We thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on the Canada Ontario Draft Action Plan.

[Original Comment ID: 209417]