Mini Quiz ! 1.What % of the Earth’s surface is covered by water? – 70% 2.What % of water is accessible for human use? – 3% is freshwater, 2.4% is frozen or deep underground, so less than 1% is accessible 3.On average, how many litres of water does a Canadian use each day? – Between 329 to 343 litres

Presentation Overview Water in Canada The Hydrologic Cycle What is a Watershed? Our Watershed Brief History Water Colour Pollution Endangered Ecosytem Tidal Bore Tidal Bore in the Past Tidal Bore or Total Bore? Tidal Bore Photos About us Our issues Take Action

Water in Canada

The Hydrologic (Water) Cycle

What is a Watershed? Watershed: A watershed is an area of land that drains surface water from a connected system of watercourses and that ultimately drains into one particular river, creek, stream, lake or ocean. fr/images/img45e68f6cb8362.jpg

What is a Watershed? /images/watershed_e.jpg Watershed: The watershed includes both the streams and rivers that transport the water, as well as the land surfaces from which water drains into the watercourses.

Our Watershed Here is our watershed francais/La_Petitcodiac/Bassin/bassin.html

Brief History Geological formation of this region dates back to more than 250 million years ago What is the Mi’kmaq name for the Petitcodiac River and what does it mean? – First Nations named it Pet-Kout-Koy-Ek which means River that bends like a bow.

Brief History There was a thriving shipbuilding industry in the 1850’s What important species was commercially fished before the construction of the causeway? Commercial Atlantic Salmon fishing exceeded 2000 kilograms per year, from 1960 to 1967 Population decline between 1967 and 1968 to a mere 668 kg harvested

Brief History In 1968, a causeway was built…

Brief History From 1968 to 1992, Moncton’s dump was located on the shores of the Petitcodiac Moncton’s raw sewage was discharged directly into the river until Greater Moncton’s sewage treatment plant started operating in , &spn= , &t=k&z=15

Water Colour What causes the brown colour of our river? The Petitcodiac River’s colour is due to suspended sediments. These sediments come from the silty banks of the river. The silt remains suspended because of the waves current, tides, wind etc… There is no direct link to the color of water and toxic pollution

Pollution Pesticides Abandoned Dams Toxics in the air Acid Rain Toxic Waste Causeways Landfills Wastewater Sedimentation Snow Dumps Stormwater Chemicals What are some examples of water pollution?

Endangered Ecosystem Changes in the Petitcodiac ecosystem, affect ecosystems thousands of kilometers away (Arctic, American East Coast, South America, etc.). All ecosystems are linked together, one way or another So this is why we don’t want to pollute our watershed and use too much water… enmer/images/img_food_web_mod5.jpg

Tidal Bore The tidal bore is created by the great Bay of Fundy tides The front of the bore is the tide coming in Rare natural phenomenon Visit Youtube and type in: – Tidal Bore – Amazon Surf

Tidal Bore in the Past Up to 2 metres high Heard from more than 1.5 kilometres away!

Tidal Bore or Total Bore? Today, it can be as high as 75 cm traveling at speeds up to 13 km/h Since Petitcodiac Causeway construction, the tidal bore lost its strength

Tidal Bore Photos

Not-for-profit organization Member of the Waterkeeper Alliance Goals: – To restore and protect the ecological integrity of the Petitcodiac River system – To ensure compliance with environmental laws – To educate the public about our river and pollution issues About us

Our Issues The causeway has been our main issue since the start of our organization in 1999 The gates will open in 2010, but… We must ensure the project is completed Other issues needing attention: – Uranium – Pesticides – Sewage – Abandoned dams and other causeways

Take Action What can you do? Reduce water use Be informed Get involved Respect our environment and our river Become a volunteer Contact us at

Thank You! Thanks for your time