Working Together to Restore Water Quality The Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan emphasizes an ecosystem approach to restoring and protecting the Bay. This approach recognizes the complex interrelationships between water, land, air, and all living things – including people, and seeks cost-effective actions to restore, protect and sustain water quality. The Bay of Quinte is one of the most picturesque bodies of water in Lake Ontario. Its shoreline stretches in a Z-shape from Trenton to Bath for almost 100 kilometers. The Bay’s watershed is the largest in Southern Ontario, over 18,000 square kilometers, and includes lands drained by the Trent, Moira, and Napanee rivers and a host of smaller tributaries. The Problems In 1986, the International Joint Commission (a Canadian-American Great Lakes watchdog) identified the Bay of Quinte as one of 43 Great Lakes “Areas of Concern”…a pollution hot-spot. Poor stewardship of the land as well as industrial, agricultural, municipal and household practices resulted in the past pollution problems including a loss of the diversity of plant and animal life, their habitats (especially wetlands) and an increasing risk to human health. A mix of toxic contaminants, bacterial and nutrient overloads in the Bay led to great imbalances in the aquatic ecosystem.
