Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan (BQRAP)

The Bay of Quinte was designated an Area of Concern (AOC) in 1985 by the International Joint Commission under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between Canada and the United States.

AOCs are communities, bays, and rivers on the Great Lakes system where human activities have severely damaged the quality of the environment. Ten of these areas are on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes, 26 in the United States, and five are shared by both countries. The environmental concerns for the Bay of Quinte include excess nutrients, persistent toxic contamination, bacterial contamination, and the loss of fish and wildlife habitat.

A Remedial Action Plan (RAP) is an important scientific endeavour and is the government, industry, and local community's response to environmental concerns. The concerns are called Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) and are believed to affect the use of various resources such as drinking water, fish, and recreation.

There are 14 possible BUIs that can be assigned to an AOC, 11 of which have been identified for the Bay of Quinte:

BUI	Title	Status
1	Fish and Wildlife Consumption	Impaired – in specific areas of the Bay
2	Tainting of Fish and Wildlife Flavor	Not applicable
3	Degradation of Fish and Wildlife Populations	Restored
4	Fish Tumors and Other Deformities	Restored
5	Bird or Animal Deformities or Reproduction Problems	Not applicable
6	Degradation of Benthos	Restored
7	Restrictions of Dredging Activities	Restored
8	Eutrophication and Undesirable Algae	Impaired
9	Restrictions on Drinking Water or Taste and Odour Problems	Restored
10	Beach Closures	Restored
11	Degradation of Aesthetics	Final report under review
12	Added Costs to Agriculture or Industry	Not applicable
13	Degradation of Phytoplankton and Zooplankton	Impaired
14	Loss of Fish and Wildlife Habitat	Restored

Be Part of the Solution

Are you a resident of the Bay of Quinte looking to get involved in Community Programs?

We offer a variety of opportunities including wildlife monitoring and landowner stewardship initiatives.

Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan Partners

The Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan (BQRAP) and its partners are successfully undertaking actions to rehabilitate the Bay. Environment and Climate Canada and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks coordinate implementation of the Remedial Action Plans for all AOCs on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes. In each AOC, government, community and industry partners are undertaking a coordinated effort to address the environmental challenges through a Remedial Action Plan. The Bay of Quinte Restoration Council facilitates the BQRAP. Quinte Conservation and Lower Trent Conservation co-chair the Restoration Council.
Other Council members include:

Learn more about the Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan programs, and funding opportunities.

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