Hamilton Harbour Monitoring Catalogue 2017
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MONITORING CATALOGUE 2017 Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan Projects Working Towards Delisting Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan Monitoring Catalogue 2017 Season Prepared by: Hamilton Harbour RAP Office RAP Coordinator: Kristin M. O’Connor RAP Researcher/Report Writer: Julie Vanden Byllaardt February 2018 Hamilton Harbour RAP Monitoring Catalogue: 2017 Season February 2018 ISSN: 1914-959X (Print Version) ISSN: 1916-5307 (Online Version) Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan Monitoring Catalogue Prepared by: Hamilton Harbour RAP Office RAP Coordinator: Kristin M. O’Connor RAP Researcher/Report Writer: Julie Vanden Byllaardt 2004 Edition (First Published): June 2004 (ISBN: 0 - 9733779 - 4 -1) 2005 Edition: January 2006 (ISBN: 0 - 9733779 - 6 - 8) 2006 Edition: March 2007 (ISBN: 978 - 0 - 9733779 - 7- 2) 2007 Edition: February 2008 (ISSN: 1914-959X [print] or 1916-5307 [online]) 2008 Edition: May 2009 (ISSN: 1914-959X [print] or 1916-5307 [online]) 2009 Edition: January 2010 (ISSN: 1914-959X [print] or 1916-5307 [online]) 2010 Edition: May 2011 (ISSN: 1914-959X [print] or 1916-5307 [online]) 2012 Edition: March 2013 (ISSN: 1914-959X [print] or 1916-5307 [online]) 2016 Edition: December 2016 (ISSN: 1914-959X [print] or 1916-5307 [online]) For more information contact: Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan Office 867 Lakeshore Road Burlington, Ontario, L7S 1A1, Canada Tel: 905-336-6465 Email: Julie.VandenByllaardt[at]canada.ca Website: www.hamiltonharbour.ca/rap ii Hamilton Harbour RAP Monitoring Catalogue: 2017 Season February 2018 Table of Contents 1. Background ................................................................................................................ 1 2. Description of the Area ............................................................................................... 1 3. Purpose of a Monitoring Catalogue ............................................................................ 2 4. Annual Workshops ..................................................................................................... 3 5. Catalogue Form Responses ....................................................................................... 3 Federal Government Central Station Water Quality Monitoring ............................................................................................................... 4 E. coli Contamination Monitoring at Bayfront and Pier 4 Beaches ......................................................................... 5 Persistent Organic Pollutants Great Lakes Areas of Concern ................................................................................ 7 Hamilton Harbour Colonial Waterbird Counts ........................................................................................................ 9 Great Lakes Herring Gull Egg Contaminants: Annual Monitoring ........................................................................ 11 Reproductive Health and Development in Northern Leopard Frogs (Rana pipiens) and Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina) in Hamilton Harbour .......................................................................................................... 13 Assessments of Reproduction, Health and the Effectiveness of Remediation Activities using Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) in Hamilton Harbour ........................................................................................................... 14 Exposure and Toxicity of PAHs to Double-Crested Cormorants in Hamilton Harbour ......................................... 15 Assessment and Monitoring of Contaminated Sediment and Benthic Conditions in Hamilton Harbour ............... 16 Harmful Algal Blooms in Hamilton Harbour and Associated Beaches .................................................................. 18 Microbial Water Quality in Hamilton Harbour and Associated Beaches ............................................................... 19 Modelling Physical Processes in Hamilton Harbour ............................................................................................. 20 Telemetry and Monitoring Fish Movement in Hamilton Harbour .......................................................................... 21 Fish Community Monitoring (Electrofishing) in Hamilton Harbour ........................................................................ 23 Fish & Habitat Science and Monitoring Projects in Hamilton Harbour .................................................................. 25 Phytoplankton Community Monitoring .................................................................................................................. 28 Lower Trophic Level Monitoring ........................................................................................................................... 30 Assessing the Effectiveness of the Randle Reef Remediation ............................................................................. 32 Monitoring during the Randle Reef Remediation .................................................................................................. 33 Provincial Government Great Lakes Index-Reference Station Monitoring ................................................................................................ 34 Hamilton Harbour Event-Based Tributary Monitoring ........................................................................................... 35 Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program ................................................................................................................. 36 Nearshore Community Index Netting ................................................................................................................... 37 Walleye Stocking Program in Hamilton Harbour .................................................................................................. 39 Municipal Government Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Effluent Monitoring .................................................................................. 41 Combined Sewer Overflow Monitoring ................................................................................................................. 43 Hamilton Harbour Beach Monitoring Program ...................................................................................................... 44 Skyway Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Effluent Monitoring ..................................................................... 45 Conservation Authorities Grindstone Creek Water Quality Monitoring ......................................................................................................... 46 Provincial Groundwater Monitoring Network – Conservation Halton Watershed ................................................. 47 iii Hamilton Harbour RAP Monitoring Catalogue: 2017 Season February 2018 Long Term Environmental Monitoring Program .................................................................................................... 48 Provincial Water Quality Monitoring Network (PWQMN) – Hamilton Conservation Authority Watershed ............ 51 Provincial Groundwater Monitoring Network (PGMN) – Hamilton Conservation Authority Watershed ................ 53 Cootes Paradise Watercourses WQ Monitoring ................................................................................................... 54 Aquatic Resources Monitoring Program – Spencer Creek Watershed ................................................................. 56 Hamilton Harbour Watershed Stewardship Project (HHWSP) – Planted and Naturalized Sites .......................... 58 Royal Botanical Gardens Water Quality Monitoring – Cootes Paradise and Hendrie Valley System ........................................................... 59 The Fishway ......................................................................................................................................................... 61 Cootes Paradise and Grindstone Creek Emergent Vegetation Survey (2013 Protocol)....................................... 62 Cootes Paradise and Grindstone Creek Submergent Vegetation Survey (2009 Protocol)................................... 64 Terrestrial Monitoring ........................................................................................................................................... 65 Incidental Vegetation Monitoring .......................................................................................................................... 66 Canada Goose Local Breeding and Moult Migrant Monitoring ............................................................................. 68 Calling Amphibian Monitoring Programme ........................................................................................................... 69 Canada Goose and Mute Swan Population Control Programme ......................................................................... 71 Freshwater Mussel Survey ................................................................................................................................... 72 Fall Migratory Bird Surveys .................................................................................................................................. 73 Electrofishing Surveys .......................................................................................................................................... 75 Fall Fish Spawning Survey ................................................................................................................................... 77 Spring Haul Traps ...............................................................................................................................................