Victory in sight for the Petitcodiac River!

Wildcanada.net action alert – December 2nd, 2004

The battle to restore New Brunswick’s Petitcodiac River has been epic, beginning in the 1960s when a causeway was erected across the river. However, victory is finally in sight! We are at the beginning of the end of this 40-year struggle, with a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to be released this month. Experts leading the EIA are expected to recommend either permanently opening the causeway gates or replacing the causeway with a partial bridge.

Returned free flow of the Petitcodiac River will be one of the most important river restoration projects ever undertaken in Canada.

Take action now at www.endangeredrivers.net/petitcodiac to ensure our federal and provincial governments stand by their commitment to swiftly implement EIA recommendations.

* Le centre d’action pour la Petitcodiac est disponible en francais.

Since being designated Canada's Most Endangered River in 2003, the Petitcodiac has received prominent national and international attention, recognizing the enormous damage inflicted to the river since the 1960s. 2004 is a pivotal year, as results from the 3-year, $4-million Environmental Impact Assessment are completed.

The Petitcodiac River is part of an estuary that flows into Shepody Bay, at the far reaches of the inner Bay of Fundy, draining a 3,000 square kilometer watershed. The river and its tributaries are influenced by the Bay of Fundy’s strong tides reaching amplitude of up to 14 meters. The river’s extraordinary tidal bore, resulting from the tidal regime in the Bay of Fundy, gives the Petitcodiac a unique function and distinct ecology - one of only three rivers in Canada where such a phenomenon occurs. Tremendous mudflats created upstream of the tidal bore, giving the Petitcodiac River its ‘Chocolate River’ nickname, host massive flocks of migrating shorebirds every summer.

The main threat to the Petitcodiac River's integrity has been the lack of commitment to restore this endangered ecosystem to a free flow state. The river’s channel was originally 1.2 kms wide, but since 1968, when the causeway was erected across the river, it has shrunk down to only 80 meters. This restriction has caused a significant impediment to water flow and massive amounts of silt have been deposited downstream from the causeway, resulting in the closing off of the channel. The river has become vulnerable to a number of additional threats including city sewage discharge and toxic landfill leachate.

The painfully obvious solution is to remove the causeway and to build a bridge spanning the river’s full width.

Take action now at www.endangeredrivers.net/petitcodiac.

With government refusing to commit to any action, the Petitcodiac has been trapped in political limbo for over 35 years. Finally, it appears that both the federal and provincial government is prepared to restore the river.

The restoration of the Petitcodiac will enable the 10 indigenous fish species of the river to return to former headwaters, and allow the Greater Moncton region of New Brunswick to put an end to one of the longest standing environmental battles in Canadian history.

The final EIA report will be delivered to provincial and federal government officials this month. Last year, both levels of government committed to acting promptly to implement the EIA recommendations. Take action to ensure this promise is kept by visiting www.endangeredrivers.net/petitcodiac now!