Regulations on Freshwater Riparian Restoration in Canada

Description of Riparian Vegetation

           Freshwater systems around the world are becoming increasingly at risk for the stresses pressed upon them. Freshwater is a critical component of both human and natural systems and as a shared resource, there has to be protection to the natural components that is often overlooked. Riparian vegetation is defined as the vegetated strip along the shoreline of different water bodies that can include ponds, streams, lakes, rivers and other freshwater hydrologic systems (Collins et al, 2013). This zone is important to the health of the water body as well as the connection point for many different animals and their habitats (Collins et al, 2013). Filtration of runoff entering the water and temperature regulation are just two functions riparian vegetation does for the ecosystem that make it important to protect from human disturbance (Collins et al, 2013). 

(Comox Valley Project Watershed, Riparian Image, 2018)

           In areas subject to high human lake disturbance such as the Lake Ellesmere Catchment of Canterbury, New Zealand, the creation of plant buffers to mediate water disturbances of human activity on the lake were found to increase oxygen and conductivity while lowering turbidity near the shoreline (Collins et al, 2013). Examples like this indicate the effective strategies that can be used to protect riparian vegetation. Human alteration of rivers flow points are a common yet damaging process to riparian vegetation and the biodiversity of them. River regulating changes the flow levels timing throughout seasons, often off from the original flow and what many different species rely on for their reproductive cycles (Bejarano et al, 2018). The shorter low flow period can lead to permanently moist riparian zones and fragmentation of forests and native vegetation being replaced by invasive, more resilient species (Bejarano et al, 2018). 

Waterton river in Alberta, diverting the river altering flow of the river based on the canal (Foster et al, Figure 1, 2018).

Laws and regulations 

The rules for protection of riparian vegetation zones are complex in Canada, different guidelines are seen in each province or territory and it is a changing topic. From Morissette and Donnelly, p. 18, 2010: “companies are legally responsible for the harmful alteration, disruption or destruction of fish habitat, includes any meaningful change in one or more habitat components…”. Activities like logging and construction near water bodies present significant harm to habitat and are representative of activities that need to be protected against. In Canada, regulations for protection of riparian areas are created at the provincial level. There are regulations protecting watershed riparian areas that differ for each province or territory, some enacting stricter measures than others. The map below indicates the main rules in each province or territory regarding regulations on riparian zones and the buffer protection the surrounds watersheds, data from O'Carroll & Gysbers, 2004.  

British Columbia

Alberta

Saskatchewan

Manitoba

Ontario

Québec

New Brunswick

Newfoundland and Labrador

Nova Scotia

Prince Edward Island

Yukon

Northwest Territories

British Columbia

• Fish inhabited streams <1.5m in width on public land, 30m zone protecting 10% of forest 

• Non-fish inhabited streams of <3m, 30m zone protecting with no restriction on amount of forest to be protected 

• Large lakes of >1000ha receive no riparian protection as well as wetlands of same area coverage 

Alberta

• Streams 0.5-5m in width on private and public receive 30m riparian management zone and larger than 5m 60m zone 

• Lakes >4ha in area on private and public receive 100m management zone recommended to 200m with fish presence in public land 

Saskatchewan

• Non-fish streams and lakes contain no riparian protection 

• Lakes and larger streams with fish contain 30-90m protection buffer depending on size 

Manitoba

• Water bodies including streams, lakes and wetlands all require an 100m riparian protection buffer but logging and road construction still permissible

Ontario

• No protection on private land

• 3m protection around all water bodies that doesn't protect from logging 

• Fish habitat streams and lakes contain 30-90m protection zone depending on shoreline incline

• Certain water bodies that protect wildlife such as Caribou in the north are prescribed a 2km riparian protection area 

Québec

• 20m riparian protection area for streams, lakes and wetlands with <40% shoreline incline, selective logging still allowed providing 500 trees per ha spared 

• >40% slope receive total protection 

New Brunswick

• 31 watersheds with 75m riparian protection zone for municipal drinking supply

• Previous riparian forest protected areas can be logged to 30% every 10 years 

• Lakes and streams with large upstream drainage spots and most wetlands are given a 30m riparian protection zone growing to 60m for special circumstances 

Newfoundland and Labrador

• Recommended protection of 20m zone for all water bodies >1m wide

Nova Scotia

• Minimum of 20m protection over all streams >0.5m wide

Prince Edward Island

• Private and public land streams, lakes and wetlands contain riparian protection buffers of 20-30m dependent on slope of shoreline 

Yukon

• No wetland or stream protection

• Lakes contain mandatory 60m no logging zone, can be changed under certain conditions 

Northwest Territories

• Mandatory 60m protection for streams, lakes and wetlands on all public land, can be reduced by permit

      Many of the protection laws in Canada are simply labelled as recommended regulations, not mandatory, and most still allow some amount of logging or exceptions to protected zones. The federal government has announced its input of research into better practices that attempt to cut in ways that closer replicate natural forest processes due to the increased laxed regulations surrounding logging near waterbodies (Government of Canada, 2020). Protection of riparian forests are increasing in importance with climate change exacerbating these areas further through increased flooding events during 2019 and water and air temperatures becoming more erratic, stronger regulations for these areas are becoming more evidently important (Seavy et al, 2009; Ministry of Natural Resources, 2020).   


References

Atkinson, S. F., & Lake, M. C. (2020). Prioritizing riparian corridors for ecosystem restoration in urbanizing watersheds. PeerJ, 8, e8174. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8174

Bejarano, M. D., Nilsson, C., Aguiar, F. C., & Moreno Mateos, D. (2018). Riparian plant guilds become simpler and most likely fewer following flow regulation. The Journal of Applied Ecology, 55(1), 365–376. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12949

Collins, K. E., Doscher, C., Rennie, H., & Ross, J. (2013). The Effectiveness of Riparian "Restoration" on Water Quality—A Case Study of Lowland Streams in Canterbury, New Zealand. Restoration Ecology, 21(1), 40–48. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2011.00859.x

Comox Valley Project Watershed. (2018). Riparian image [Illustration]. Project Watershed. https://projectwatershed.ca/2018/03/08/riparian-ecosystems-lesson/

Foster, S., Mahoney, J., & Rood, S. (2018). Functional flows: an environmental flow regime benefits riparian cottonwoods along the Waterton River, Alberta: River regulation and riparian cottonwoods. Restoration Ecology, 26(5), 921–932. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12654

Government of Canada. (2020, June 29). Maintaining biodiversity in riparian areas. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved February 12, 2021, from https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/our-natural-resources/forests-forestry/sustainable-forest-management/conservation-protection-canadas/riparian-areas/13199

Matos da Silva, N., Angeoletto, F., Santos, J., Filho, A., Vacchiano, M., Bohrer, J., & Cândido, A. (2017). The negative influences of the new brazilian forest code on the conservation of riparian forests. European Journal of Ecology, 3(2), 116–122. https://doi.org/10.1515/eje-2017-0019

Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. (2020, October 28). Ontario's approach to managing flood risk. Government of Ontario. Retrieved February 12, 2021, from https://www.ontario.ca/document/independent-review-2019-flood-events-ontario/ontarios-approach-managing-flood-risk

Morissette, J., & Donnelly, M. (2010). Riparian areas challenges and opportunities for conservation and sustainable forest management . Sustainable Forest Management Network = Réseau de gestion durable des forêts.

O'Carroll, A., & Gysbers, J. (2004). Where land and waters meet an assessment of Canada's Riparian forest management standards . Global Forest Watch Canada.

Seavy, N. E., Gardali, T., Golet, G. H., Griggs, F. O., Howell, C. A., Kelsey, R., & Small-Lorenz, S. (2009). Why climate change makes riparian restoration more important than ever: Recommendations for practice and research. Ecological Restoration. https://doi.org/10.3368/er.27.3.330

(Comox Valley Project Watershed, Riparian Image, 2018)

Waterton river in Alberta, diverting the river altering flow of the river based on the canal (Foster et al, Figure 1, 2018).