By Kate Harries WaterWatch
An expert report just released by the Ontario government on how to respond to the effects of climate change in Ontario calls for a comprehensive strategy to “enhance the resilience of the Great Lakes.”
Climate projections show average temperatures in the Great Lakes basin rising between 2 and 4 degrees Celsius by 2050, and precipitation may increase by 20 per cent in all but the summer months when more intense dry periods are expected, says the ‘Adapting to Climate Change’ report.
Water temperatures may increase by as much as twice the air temperature, leading to increased evaporation, a fall in lake levels of between 15 and 115 cm over the next 40 years, and more hospitable conditions for invasive species, nuisance algae, pathogens and waterborne diseases.
The effect will be exacerbated by contaminants discharged from sewage treatment plants or washed from fertilized and disturbed areas into increasingly shallow and warm near-shore areas, the report predicts
The functions of wetlands in filtering and storing water, and providing habitat for fish, amphibians and terrestrial species, especially water birds, will be dramatically altered.
The report recommends giving high priority to investment on wastewater treatment infrastructure projects, especially those using innovative green technology.
The report notes that aging sewage infrastructure is already proving inadequate. “In private residences, especially in older neighbourhoods, damage from sewer back-ups is resulting in major financial implications for homeowners and the insurance industry.”
The report stresses that surface run-off is a resource for potential re-use and water retention – through swales and pervious surfaces – is considered a better approach to the traditional one of trying to quickly capture and convey surface run-off into pipes and streams.
The report of the expert panel on climate change adaptation covers a wide range of topics – from the north, to forestry, to biodiversity, to agriculture and First Nations.
It was prepared by a panel co-chaired by Dr. David Pearson, Professor of Earth Sciences at Laurentian University, and Dr. Ian Burton, Emeritus Professor at the University of Toronto. Former Grand Council Chief John Beaucage of the Anishinabek Nation was one of the panelists.
The panel makes 59 recommendations and urges the province to take prompt and vigorous action by the spring of 2010.  “The effects of climate change are already being felt, and are set to become so pervasive that all levels of government and all sections of society have a responsibility to become informed and to take appropriate action within their mandates.”