Science to support management of Parks Canada's historic Rideau and Trent-Severn waterways to maintain and enhance ecosystem services

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Currently, the Government of Canada (i.e. Parks Canada) is investing roughly a billion dollars to upgrade infrastructure at numerous locations along the historic Rideau Canal and Trent-Severn waterways over the next decade. This provides an opportunity to modernize not the only the infrastructure, but could also help improve the health of these aquatic ecosystems. Research may help inform operational changes of locks and dams, or policies with respect to the management of these systems that can provide benefits to fish (e.g. improve passage of fish, decrease risks associated with invasive species), to species at risk, decrease shoreline erosion, enhancing recreational use and providing benefits to surrounding communities. To that end, the overall goal of the proposed SPG is to generate knowledge to support the management of the Rideau and Trent-Severn waterways, in a way that maximizes ecosystem services in the face of anthropogenic stressors. We propose tocombine natural science, engineering, and social science research to address the following objectives: 1) Determine the influence of dam and lock station presence and operations on abiotic (i.e., water, sediment) and biotic (i.e., recreational fish, at risk fish and turtles) connectivity at a system and at a reach scale; 2) Identify the effects of shoreline habitat and aquatic macrophyte management strategies on ecosystem structure; and 3) Investigate the perspectives of key stakeholders related to waterway management scenarios and communication strategies. Beyond these core objectives, we will share our findings with our partners and stakeholders using the communication strategies identified in Objective 3 while training students in an integrated, multi-disciplinary framework. The proposed research will help safeguard the social, cultural, and ecological values of these nationally significant waterways by providing Parks Canada with the environmental and social science evidence needed to inform policy development and management.