ARTICLE ON THE GRAND RIVER

Today's Waterloo Region Record carries a very good article on the Grand River titled "A Grand challenge". This article extols the virtues of the Grand River as well as its' drawbacks. There are also a number of excellent photographs of various individuals and groups who enjoy time in and on the river.

The main problems/challenges are population growth and hence increased volumes of treated human sewage going into the Grand River. Some day I hope that we will look back and see how inherently ridiculous and damaging this method of disposal really is. This is especially so as the City of Brantford downstream gets all their drinking water from the Grand River. There are also issues with treatment Plant by-passes during large storms. Every year Sewage Treatment Plants in Waterloo Region discharge far too much either partially treated or heaven forbid untreated sewage into the Grand River and its' tributaries.

Farmland pressures contributing manure and fertilizers are a huge problem. Ammonia, nitrogen and phosphorous all contaminate the Grand River. Algal growth in the river is bad as the algae take up large quantities of oxygen needed by fish, plants and other species.

Climate change can negatively affect the Grand River both with droughts and floods at more unpredictable times of the year.

Chlorides from road salt are climbing in the Grand River. More subtle forms of pollution than the old discoloured and frothy river water are still a concern. Old industrial sites may be now closed and not contributing solvents, greases and oils as they once did but some have left a legacy of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) behind. The old Uniroyal site in Elmira is still operating and its' legacy is Dioxins & Furans combined with DDT and other hazardous compounds. Other factories, abandoned or otherwise, near the river may have left LNAPLS and DNAPLs in their subsurface which eventually dissolve and find their way into the river. These NAPLS as they are known can be both from oils and gasoline as well as solvents used in various chemical processes whether for manufacturing or even just cleaning of metal components.

This article is reasonably well balanced as it does indicate numerous upgrades to our Sewage Treatment Plants as well as to farming practices. I had two well credentialed and personally knowledgeable family members look at this article this morning. Both have studied and worked in and around the Grand River and they were reasonably satisfied that this article was neither too far optimistic nor too pessimistic. Great strides have been made but far more still needs to be done as pressures increase on the river.