Posted with permission from the Hamilton Spectator
This was printed back in 2002, but it is the first time I saw this article and thought it was worth posting.
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(Nov. 23, 2002) -- 1. WATER FLOW: In the winter there is random flow of water in and out of the harbour through the canal, largely depending on the wind direction. In the summer, there is a cross flow with water going in and out of the harbour simultaneously. Cooler lake water flows into the harbour though the bottom of the canal while warmer harbour water flows out on top. The inflow of lake water carries vital oxygen to the harbour and is considered the one thing that keeps the harbour's cooler bottom layer from becoming completely anoxic, or oxygenless, during the summer.
2. BURLINGTON CANAL: Once a narrow and shallow channel, the canal first opened to larger vessels in 1826, clearing the way for development of Hamilton's harbour as a major shipping port. Over the years it's been dredged and widened, and five bridges have been built to provide access over the water for cars, trains and people. The current lift bridge opened in 1962, and in its lifespan has allowed 250,000 vessels through. Each year, the bridge lifts an average 4,000 times for 6,500 vessels, including more than 1,000 ships that are carrying cargo. It lifts on demand for commercial vessels, and on the hour and half hour for pleasure boaters.
3. SUSPENDED SOLIDS: Suspended solids flow into the harbour from two major sources: Red Hill and Spencer creeks and also from storm sewer outlets. The runoff carries with it various chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizer from suburban and agricultural uses as well as bacterial contaminants. The continued flow of sediments out of Spencer Creek is a major impediment to the recovery of Cootes Paradise. The settling of the sediments just beyond the High Level bridge appears to be creating a shallower area around Carroll's Point that over time is becoming a shallow delta.
In the east, the flow of sediments flushing out of Red Hill Creek can be severe. RAP (Remedial Action Plan, the co-ordinated effort to restore the harbour) has aerial photographs from after a major storm several years ago where a dark plume of suspended solids is clearly visible, flowing out from the creek and Windermere Basin heading into the bay and out the ship canal to Lake Ontario.
4. SEWAGE: Hamilton Harbour is the end of the line for four sewage treatment plants, three operated by the City of Hamilton and one by the Regional Municipality of Halton. Between them, the Woodward Avenue (shown on map), Dundas, Waterdown and Skyway (Burlington, not shown on map) plants release more than 400 million litres of treated sewage into the harbour on an average day.
Pollutants of concern from sewage treatment plants include phosphorus, which is largely removed, and ammonia. Both are potent plant nutrients that spur growth of algae which increases the murkiness of the water, and uses up oxygen, critical for fish. The Skyway plant meets the initial RAP targets for 2003, while Dundas and Waterdown plants sometimes do. Hamilton officials hope the Woodward Avenue plant will meet the initial targets by 2005.
Untreated sewage adds to the burden carried by the harbour. It comes mostly from bypasses on Hamilton's combined sewer system. During heavy rains untreated sewage is diverted into the harbour to avoid overloading the Woodward Avenue plant.
5. ORIGINAL OUTFLOW: The ship canal is a man-made entrance to the harbour. The original shallow opening between the bay and lake was further north, toward Burlington and Joseph Brant Hospital.
6. THE BIRDS: There are breeding colonies of six fish-eating waterbird species in the harbour -- ring-billed and herring gulls, rare Caspian and common terns, rare black-crowned night herons and double-crested cormorants. More than 1,700 cormorant nesting pairs were counted this year, up from 51 in 1987, so many the Canadian Wildlife Service may have to reduce their numbers. It already tries to control Canada geese by oiling their eggs. Cormorant droppings have killed all the trees on Hickory Island in Cootes Paradise and are now killing trees on Carroll's Point in the west harbour.
Three islands built in the northeastern corner of the bay are designed to replace nesting space lost to development at the Hamilton Port Authority's Eastport, as well as to create habitat for fish and reptiles.
7. CENTRE STATION: The most important scientific spot in the harbour, it is the place from which much of the knowledge of water quality comes. It is a point in the middle of the harbour roughly halfway between LaSalle Park and Stelco that scientists have been visiting for decades. It is the place where the water is considered to represent the average of what is happening in the different corners of the bay. It is used to measure turbidity, levels of phosphorus, ammonia nitrate and many other things.
8. SHORELINE: Trees and shrubs shade the edges of natural water bodies, and their shores slope away gradually into forests of underwater plants, creating spawning places, nurseries and shelter for fish. Such habitat was rare in Hamilton Harbour in the 1980s, having been replaced by docks and anti-erosion measures such as the row of steel barrels that still lines a long stretch of the Aldershot shore. To make the bay more hospitable for fish, gradual slopes, shoals and small islands have been created along Hamilton's Waterfront Trail and off LaSalle Park in Burlington. Bigger islands in the northeastern corner also provide waterbird nesting space. Logs, stones and tangled tree roots have been used to create underwater shelter and hiding spaces for fish.
9. BOTTOM SCARS: The curved lines across the harbour are anchor scars that show up in sonar scans of the harbour bottom. The scars suggest that sediments are still being stirred up by shipping, perhaps recirculating contaminants.
The straight lines near the ship canal are scars from dredging activity that also show up in the sonar scans.
Continued.....
This was printed back in 2002, but it is the first time I saw this article and thought it was worth posting.
_____________________________________________
(Nov. 23, 2002) -- 1. WATER FLOW: In the winter there is random flow of water in and out of the harbour through the canal, largely depending on the wind direction. In the summer, there is a cross flow with water going in and out of the harbour simultaneously. Cooler lake water flows into the harbour though the bottom of the canal while warmer harbour water flows out on top. The inflow of lake water carries vital oxygen to the harbour and is considered the one thing that keeps the harbour's cooler bottom layer from becoming completely anoxic, or oxygenless, during the summer.
2. BURLINGTON CANAL: Once a narrow and shallow channel, the canal first opened to larger vessels in 1826, clearing the way for development of Hamilton's harbour as a major shipping port. Over the years it's been dredged and widened, and five bridges have been built to provide access over the water for cars, trains and people. The current lift bridge opened in 1962, and in its lifespan has allowed 250,000 vessels through. Each year, the bridge lifts an average 4,000 times for 6,500 vessels, including more than 1,000 ships that are carrying cargo. It lifts on demand for commercial vessels, and on the hour and half hour for pleasure boaters.
3. SUSPENDED SOLIDS: Suspended solids flow into the harbour from two major sources: Red Hill and Spencer creeks and also from storm sewer outlets. The runoff carries with it various chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizer from suburban and agricultural uses as well as bacterial contaminants. The continued flow of sediments out of Spencer Creek is a major impediment to the recovery of Cootes Paradise. The settling of the sediments just beyond the High Level bridge appears to be creating a shallower area around Carroll's Point that over time is becoming a shallow delta.
In the east, the flow of sediments flushing out of Red Hill Creek can be severe. RAP (Remedial Action Plan, the co-ordinated effort to restore the harbour) has aerial photographs from after a major storm several years ago where a dark plume of suspended solids is clearly visible, flowing out from the creek and Windermere Basin heading into the bay and out the ship canal to Lake Ontario.
4. SEWAGE: Hamilton Harbour is the end of the line for four sewage treatment plants, three operated by the City of Hamilton and one by the Regional Municipality of Halton. Between them, the Woodward Avenue (shown on map), Dundas, Waterdown and Skyway (Burlington, not shown on map) plants release more than 400 million litres of treated sewage into the harbour on an average day.
Pollutants of concern from sewage treatment plants include phosphorus, which is largely removed, and ammonia. Both are potent plant nutrients that spur growth of algae which increases the murkiness of the water, and uses up oxygen, critical for fish. The Skyway plant meets the initial RAP targets for 2003, while Dundas and Waterdown plants sometimes do. Hamilton officials hope the Woodward Avenue plant will meet the initial targets by 2005.
Untreated sewage adds to the burden carried by the harbour. It comes mostly from bypasses on Hamilton's combined sewer system. During heavy rains untreated sewage is diverted into the harbour to avoid overloading the Woodward Avenue plant.
5. ORIGINAL OUTFLOW: The ship canal is a man-made entrance to the harbour. The original shallow opening between the bay and lake was further north, toward Burlington and Joseph Brant Hospital.
6. THE BIRDS: There are breeding colonies of six fish-eating waterbird species in the harbour -- ring-billed and herring gulls, rare Caspian and common terns, rare black-crowned night herons and double-crested cormorants. More than 1,700 cormorant nesting pairs were counted this year, up from 51 in 1987, so many the Canadian Wildlife Service may have to reduce their numbers. It already tries to control Canada geese by oiling their eggs. Cormorant droppings have killed all the trees on Hickory Island in Cootes Paradise and are now killing trees on Carroll's Point in the west harbour.
Three islands built in the northeastern corner of the bay are designed to replace nesting space lost to development at the Hamilton Port Authority's Eastport, as well as to create habitat for fish and reptiles.
7. CENTRE STATION: The most important scientific spot in the harbour, it is the place from which much of the knowledge of water quality comes. It is a point in the middle of the harbour roughly halfway between LaSalle Park and Stelco that scientists have been visiting for decades. It is the place where the water is considered to represent the average of what is happening in the different corners of the bay. It is used to measure turbidity, levels of phosphorus, ammonia nitrate and many other things.
8. SHORELINE: Trees and shrubs shade the edges of natural water bodies, and their shores slope away gradually into forests of underwater plants, creating spawning places, nurseries and shelter for fish. Such habitat was rare in Hamilton Harbour in the 1980s, having been replaced by docks and anti-erosion measures such as the row of steel barrels that still lines a long stretch of the Aldershot shore. To make the bay more hospitable for fish, gradual slopes, shoals and small islands have been created along Hamilton's Waterfront Trail and off LaSalle Park in Burlington. Bigger islands in the northeastern corner also provide waterbird nesting space. Logs, stones and tangled tree roots have been used to create underwater shelter and hiding spaces for fish.
9. BOTTOM SCARS: The curved lines across the harbour are anchor scars that show up in sonar scans of the harbour bottom. The scars suggest that sediments are still being stirred up by shipping, perhaps recirculating contaminants.
The straight lines near the ship canal are scars from dredging activity that also show up in the sonar scans.
Continued.....