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The Canal Saint-Georges: sociogeomorphological trajectory of an anthropogenic waterway

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Étienne Gariépy-Girouard at University of Quebec in Montreal
Étienne Gariépy-Girouard
Thomas Buffin-Bélanger at Université du Québec à Rimouski UQAR
Thomas Buffin-Bélanger
Pascale M. Biron at Concordia University
Pascale M. Biron
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Le canal Saint-Georges : trajectoire sociogéomorphologique
d’un cours d’eau d’origine anthropique
The Canal Saint-Georges:
sociogeomorphological trajectory of an
anthropogenic waterway
Étienne Gariépy-Girouard1, Thomas Buffin-Bélanger1& Pascale M. Biron2
1Département de biologie, chimie et géographie, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Canada (Qc)
2Department of Geography, Planning, Environment, Concordia University, Canada (Qc)
etienne.gariepy-girouard@uqar.ca
73nd CAG annual Congress | Thematic session: Sociogeomorphology of rivers in Canada | May 9th 2023
1
Étienne Gariépy-Girouard, 2021
2
The Canal Saint-Georges
Étienne Gariépy-Girouard, 2021
3
Present the historical anthropogenic and
natural trajectories of the Canal Saint-Georges,
their drivers and their interactions
Describe the recent evolution of the Canal
Saint-Georges and identify its main drivers
Discuss the evolution of these drivers over
time
Étienne Gariépy-Girouard, 2021
4
Before 1898
(2009, 2018)
5
After 1898
(2009, 2018)
6
Georges Martin-Zédé, 1901
7
1. Canal Saint-Georges’ sociogeomorphological trajectory (1898-2019)
Gariépy-Girouard et al., 2023
8
1. Canal Saint-Georges’ sociogeomorphological trajectory (1898-2019)
Gariépy-Girouard et al., 2023
9
Georges Martin-Zédé, 1904
1. Canal Saint-Georges’ sociogeomorphological trajectory (1898-2019)
10
Georges Martin-Zédé, 1909
1. Canal Saint-Georges’ sociogeomorphological trajectory (1898-2019)
11
Gariépy-Girouard et al., 2023
1. Canal Saint-Georges’ sociogeomorphological trajectory (1898-2019)
12
Georges Martin-Zédé, 1913
1. Canal Saint-Georges’ sociogeomorphological trajectory (1898-2019)
13
Gariépy-Girouard et al., 2023
1. Canal Saint-Georges’ sociogeomorphological trajectory (1898-2019)
14
BANQ, 1926
1. Canal Saint-Georges’ sociogeomorphological trajectory (1898-2019)
15
Gariépy-Girouard et al., 2023
1. Canal Saint-Georges’ sociogeomorphological trajectory (1898-2019)
16
Jean-Marie Dubois, 1980
1. Canal Saint-Georges’ sociogeomorphological trajectory (1898-2019)
17
Radio Canada, 2017
1. Canal Saint-Georges’ sociogeomorphological trajectory (1898-2019)
18
Gaëtan Laprise, 2019-07-23
Gaëtan Laprise, 2021-08-27
2. Canal Saint-Georges’ recent evolution (2019-2022)
Fish habitat restoration project
19
Gaëtan Laprise, 2019-07-23
Gaëtan Laprise, 2021-08-27
Gaëtan Laprise, 2021-08-18
Étienne Gariépy-Girouard, 2021-10-27
2. Canal Saint-Georges’ recent evolution (2019-2022)
Fish habitat restoration project
20
2. Canal Saint-Georges’ recent evolution (2019-2022)
21
2. Canal Saint-Georges’ recent evolution (2019-2022)
Public safety and
aesthetics
22
2. Canal Saint-Georges’ recent evolution (2019-2022)
ZIPCNG Fisheries and
Oceans Canada
Coastal biology
and ecology
Fish habitat
Public safety and
aesthetics
23
2. Canal Saint-Georges’ recent evolution (2019-2022)
ZIPCNG Fisheries and
Oceans Canada
Coastal biology
and ecology
Fish habitat
HGM external partner
Anthropogenic waterway
Public safety and
aesthetics
24
2. Canal Saint-Georges’ recent evolution (2019-2022)
ZIPCNG Fisheries and
Oceans Canada
Coastal biology
and ecology
Fish habitat
HGM external partner
Anthropogenic waterway
Exclusion of HGM recommandations
Inconsistent design
Public safety and
aesthetics
25
3. Evolution of sociogeomorphological drivers
Framework for the identification of river restoration objectives
26
3. Evolution of sociogeomorphological drivers
Period 1
Period 2
Period 4
Period 3
Rules
(Legislative
framework)
Values
(Sociocultural
context)
Knowledge
(HGM)
Framework for the identification of river restoration objectives
Distribution of the four evolutionary periods within the value-knowledge-rules
framework (Adapted from Zingraff-Hamed et al., 2022)
27
3. Evolution of sociogeomorphological drivers
Distribution of the four evolutionary periods within the value-knowledge-rules
framework (Adapted from Zingraff-Hamed et al., 2022)
Rules
(Legislative
framework)
Values
(Sociocultural
context)
Knowledge
(HGM)
Period 1
Period 2
Period 3
Period 4
Framework for the identification of river restoration objectives
28
3. Evolution of sociogeomorphological drivers
Distribution of the four evolutionary periods within the value-knowledge-rules
framework (Adapted from Zingraff-Hamed et al., 2022)
Rules
(Legislative
framework)
Values
(Sociocultural
context)
Knowledge
(HGM)
Period 1
Period 2
Period 3
Period 4
Development of
an expertise
Funding
framework
Framework for the identification of river restoration objectives
29
3. Evolution of sociogeomorphological drivers
Period
Genesis and peak Transition
Sociocultural
context
Productionist values Environmental and recreational values
Legislative
framework
Environmental "development" Environmental "restoration"
Drivers
Socio-economic activities and needs Expertise and funding of restoration activities
30
3. Evolution of sociogeomorphological drivers
Period
Genesis and peak Transition
Sociocultural
context
Productionist values Environmental and recreational values
Legislative
framework
Environmental "development" Environmental "restoration"
Drivers
Socio-economic activities and needs Expertise and funding of restoration activities
[...]
?
?
?
?
?
?
Framework for the identification of river restoration objectives
31
Questions ?
Distribution of the four evolutionary periods within the value-knowledge-rules
framework (Adapted from Zingraff-Hamed et al., 2022)
Period 1
Period 2
Period 4
Period 3
Rules
(Legislative
framework)
Values
(Sociocultural
context)
Knowledge
(HGM)
32
References
Ashmore, P. (2015). Towards a sociogeomorphology of rivers. Geomorphology, 251, 149–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.02.020
Cottet, M., Morandi, B., & Piégay, H. (2022). What are the Political, Social, and Economic Issues in River Restoration? Genealogy and Current
Research Issues. In B. Morandi, M. Cottet, & H. Piégay (Eds.), River Restoration: Political, Social, and Economic Perspectives (pp. 1–47). John
Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119410010.ch1
Dufour, S., & Piégay, H. (2009). From the myth of a lost paradise to targeted river restoration: forget natural references and focus on human
benefits. River Research and Applications, 25(5), 568–581. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.1239
Gariépy-Girouard, É., Buffin‐Bélanger, T., Savard, M., & Biron, P. M. (2023). Histoire du canal Saint-Georges (Port-Menier, île d’Anticosti) et
perspectives : la valorisation du patrimoine culturel par l’aménagement fluvial. Le Naturaliste Canadien, 147(1), 114–125.
https://doi.org/10.7202/1098178ar
Jacob, C. (2022). La compensation écologique, instrument de promotion du développement ou d’initiation à la transition écologique: le cas de
l’introduction de la non-perte nette des milieux humides et hydriques au Québec. In A. Zaga-Mendez, J.-F. Bissonnette, & J. Dupras (Eds.), Une
économie écologique pour le Québec : Comment opérationnaliser une nécessaire transition (pp. 269–288). Presses de l’Universite du Québec.
Jacobs, D. F., Dalgleish, H. J., & Nelson, C. D. (2013). A conceptual framework for restoration of threatened plants: the effective model of
American chestnut (Castanea dentata) reintroduction. New Phytologist, 197(2), 378–393. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12020
Kondolf, G. M., & Yang, C.-N. (2008). Planning River Restoration Projects: Social and Cultural Dimensions. In S. E. Darby & D. A. Sear (Eds.),
River Restoration: Managing the Uncertainty in Restoring Physical Habitat (pp. 43–60). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470867082.ch4
Lave, R., & Doyle, M. (2021). Streams of Revenue: The Restoration Economy and the Ecosystems It creates. The MIT Press, 192 p.
Lespez, L., & Dufour, S. (2021). Les hybrides, la géographie de la nature et de l’environnement. Annales de Géographie, 737(1), 58–85.
https://doi.org/10.3917/ag.737.0058
Zingraff-Hamed, A., Serra-Llobet, A., & Kondolf, G. M. (2022). The Social, Economic, and Ecological Drivers of Planning and Management of
Urban River Parks. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 4, 907044. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2022.907044
33
2. Canal Saint-Georges’ recent evolution (2019-2022)
HGM Human
benefits
Expertise and
funding
"What are the prior issues for the people who live with it?
Now we're going to get hydrogeomorphology to look at those
issues more specifically.“
(P04)
"We're going to direct it according to wishes, according to
needs, according to intentions. But it still came a little bit at the
expense of everything the stream could offer.“
(P05)
"These are the considerations that must be brought back by force,
because we know that, ultimately, this pole can bring
everything down because natural processes will always end
up having the upper hand.“
(P05)
"It's all about us, but we don't have the technical expertise.“
(P05)
“The habitat component came in through the funding program. [...] We're going to say it's
going to be a fish habitat project, and indirectly we're going to be able to address the other
issues. [...] But we realized that no fish could get through that, even if we tore down the dam. It
took a fish ladder. Right away that added $200,000 or $250,000 [+ 60% -80% of the
budget].“
(P05)
•Human benefits → condition (social acceptability)
•Hydrogeomorphology → means and tools
•Expertise → condition (organization habilities)
•Funding → motivation (funding program requirements)
Project’s structure according to the organization that leads it
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
Histoire du canal Saint-Georges (Port-Menier, île d’Anticosti) et perspectives : la valorisation du patrimoine culturel par l’aménagement fluvial
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2023
Le canal Saint-Georges est un cours d’eau d’origine anthropique construit en 1898 lors de l’installation d’Henri Menier sur l’île d’Anticosti. Depuis, il a été aménagé pour l’adapter à différents usages. À partir de la fin des années 1970, les processus fluviaux ont graduellement façonné le cours d’eau, entraînant une morphologie plus naturelle. Un projet d’aménagement du canal Saint-Georges et de ses habitats pour le poisson, réalisé de 2019 à 2022, a aussi mené au démantèlement d’un barrage, à la stabilisation de berges ainsi qu’à des aménagements fauniques. Cet article présente les trajectoires historiques anthropique et naturelle du canal dans le but de mettre en lumière leurs interactions. L’évolution des usages du canal Saint-Georges comprend 3 périodes distinctes, qui ont chacune influencé les processus fluviaux ainsi que la morphologie résultante. Cette évolution à la fois anthropique et naturelle du canal Saint-Georges est caractéristique de plusieurs cours d’eau aménagés, ce qui représente à la fois des possibilités et des défis de gestion. Ce cas montre l’importance de considérer la particularité hybride de ces cours d’eau dans leur restauration et leur aménagement. À l’avenir, cela pourrait mener à mieux respecter leur fonctionnement potentiel ainsi qu’à mettre davantage en valeur leur patrimoine culturel.
View
The Social, Economic, and Ecological Drivers of Planning and Management of Urban River Parks
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  • Aug 2022
Urban rivers deliver a broad range of contributions of nature to human development. The exploitation of the riverine ecosystem services evolves with uncertainty. In addition to the current decreasing of ecosystem health and changing climate, the impact of societal development on the river system directly reduces the potential delivery of future ecosystem services. What are the drivers of the design of urban river parks and what upcoming challenges will need to be addressed? This paper presents the results of an ex-post-analysis and comparative analysis of planning orientations of two urban river parks, the Isar River in Munich (Germany) and the American River in Sacramento (U.S.). The contribution describes the evolution of the urban rivers based on planning strategy, identifies drivers of changes and discusses the upcoming challenges for urban river parks that need to be addressed in the short and long term. The contribution shows that urban river park designs occur in a larger context of human demographic, technological, and economic changes. The contribution does not intend to solve the very complex and urgent challenges the case study sites face but rather to highlight research needs to support adaptation strategies.
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Les hybrides, la géographie de la nature et de l’environnement
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2021
À l’ère de l’Anthropocène, la transformation de la nature matérielle par les sociétés est de mieux en mieux assimilée. De nombreuses recherches proposent ainsi d’envisager la nature contemporaine comme le résultat de l’hybridation de la nature et de la culture. Mais que sont les hybrides et quelle place doit-on leur accorder ? L’examen du concept en géographie, et dans quelques disciplines voisines, permet d’effectuer plusieurs constats. La géographie démontre depuis longtemps que l’environnement est constitué d’hybrides possédant une dimension matérielle et dont la compréhension ne peut se faire qu’en les inscrivant dans l’espace et dans le temps. Ces hybrides correspondent à des systèmes (géosystèmes, anthroposystèmes) mais aussi aux objets élémentaires qui les constituent (sédiment, arbre, etc.) qui sont ontologiquement socionaturels. Mais nous n’étudions pas des hybrides de nature et de culture mais des hybrides entre des processus physicochimiques, biologiques et sociaux dont la différenciation relève plus d’une distinction méthodologique qu’ontologique. L’examen montre qu’en géographie, l’hybridation semble soit implicite, soit évidente, et demeure un cadre de référence général plutôt qu’un enjeu scientifique et programmatique. À partir de nos recherches sur les cours d’eau, nous montrons que la matérialité contemporaine est composée d’objets hybrides par construction ou par métabolisme. C’est pourquoi nous proposons une géographie des objets hybrides qui s’appuie sur le renforcement d’un espace intradisciplinaire en géographie, seul à même d’articuler toutes les dimensions nécessaires à leur compréhension.
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From the Myth of a Lost Paradise to Targeted River Restoration: Forget Natural References and Focus on Human Benefits
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2009
  • RIVER RES APPL
In the last two decades river restoration has become increasingly a field of research asking a series of complex questions related not just to science but also to society. Why should we restore ecosystems? Is restoration always beneficial? When is it beneficial? What should be the target reference states? What is success and when can it be evaluated? Our objective is to chronicle and discuss the fundamental concepts of reference versus objective, state versus process-based actions, nature versus culture and ecosystem integrity versus ecosystem benefits driven restoration. We discuss the dynamic and yet unresolved definition of a reference state. Although the desire to re-create the past is tempting, science has shown that river systems follow complex trajectories frequently making it impossible to return to a previous state. Therefore, restoration goals are moving away from explicitly defining a reference state because of the difficulty of attaining that reference state. We argue that the reference-based strategy should be progressively replaced by an objective-based strategy that reflects the practical limitations of developing sustainable landscapes and the emerging importance of accounting for human services of the target ecosystem. After a decade during which natural processes have been the focus of restoration, it appears that particular processes are not equally valuable everywhere and that regional complexity must be better understood to adjust restoration actions. Copyright
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What are the Political, Social, and Economic Issues in River Restoration? Genealogy and Current Research Issues
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River restoration initiatives are now widespread across the world. The research efforts undertaken to support them are increasingly interdisciplinary, focusing on ecological but also societal issues. Based on a review of previous contributions, this chapter provides an overview of research in human and social sciences in the field of river restoration. It illustrates how, in three decades, such approaches have evolved and strengthened within the restoration sciences. The scientific community working on societal issues has structured itself, often regionally and circumstantially, to contribute to, critically assess, and improve restoration policies and practices. Our scientific literature review highlights this research field and is structured along three thematic axes: (i) human–river interactions, especially perceptions and practices of rivers and how these interactions can be changed by restoration projects; (ii) critical analysis of political processes, with a particular interest in governance and decision‐making, and a specific emphasis on the question of public participation in restoration projects; and (iii) evaluation of the economic benefits of river restoration. All these scientific contributions on societal issues are based on survey methods, documentary analysis, or economic valuation, which are introduced in dedicated inserts. Finally, we discuss how these research efforts and the diversity of researchers’ positions contribute to improve restoration approaches in practice.
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Streams of Revenue: The Restoration Economy and the Ecosystems It Creates
Book
  • Jan 2021
An analysis of stream mitigation banking and the challenges of implementing market-based approaches to environmental conservation. Market-based approaches to environmental conservation have been increasingly prevalent since the early 1990s. The goal of these markets is to reduce environmental harm not by preventing it, but by pricing it. A housing development on land threaded with streams, for example, can divert them into underground pipes if the developer pays to restore streams elsewhere. But does this increasingly common approach actually improve environmental well-being? In Streams of Revenue, Rebecca Lave and Martin Doyle answer this question by analyzing the history, implementation, and environmental outcomes of one of these markets: stream mitigation banking. In stream mitigation banking, an entrepreneur speculatively restores a stream, generating “stream credits” that can be purchased by a developer to fulfill regulatory requirements of the Clean Water Act. Tracing mitigation banking from conceptual beginnings to implementation, the authors find that in practice it is very difficult to establish equivalence between the ecosystems harmed and those that are restored, and to cope with the many sources of uncertainty that make positive restoration outcomes unlikely. Lave and Doyle argue that market-based approaches have failed to deliver on conservation goals and call for a radical reconfiguration of the process.
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Towards a sociogeomorphology of rivers
Article
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While human impacts on rivers and other landforms have long been a component of geomorphic research, little of this work explicitly includes insights into human agency from social science or recognises that in many cases rivers can be considered to be hybrid co-productions or ‘socio-natures’. A socio-geomorphic approach proposed here has parallels with some aspects of sociohydrology and can extend and enrich existing geomorphic explanations of the morphology of, for example, urban rivers by explicitly recognising and working with the co-evolution of the human and natural systems. Examples from recent literature illustrate ways in which these relationships can be understood and analyzed, showing a range of socio-natural influences in particular contexts that have material consequences for river morphology and recognising that events in the system have many forms. The approach recognises the importance of contingency in time and place together with the role and nature of both local and global knowledge. An important element of this approach is that it provides ways for understanding the nature, position and intention of geomorphic and other scientific interventions as part of the system, for example in the case of river restoration. This also leads to the need for reflexivity by geomorphologists and reconsideration of the nature of geomorphological knowledge by those involved in such work and with respect to sociogeomorphology as a whole.
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A conceptual framework for restoration of threatened plants: The effective model of American chestnut (Castanea dentata) reintroduction
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We propose a conceptual framework for restoration of threatened plant species that encourages integration of technological, ecological, and social spheres. A sphere encompasses ideas relevant to restoration and the people working within similar areas of influence or expertise. Increased capacity within a sphere and a higher degree of coalescing among spheres predict a greater probability of successful restoration. We illustrate this with C astanea dentata , a foundation forest tree in North America that was annihilated by an introduced pathogen; the species is a model that effectively merges biotechnology, reintroduction biology, and restoration ecology. Because of C . dentata 's ecological and social importance, scientists have aggressively pursued blight resistance through various approaches. We summarize recent advancements in tree breeding and biotechnology that have emerged from C. dentata research, and describe their potential to bring new tools to bear on socio‐ecological restoration problems. Successful reintroduction of C . dentata will also depend upon an enhanced understanding of its ecology within contemporary forests. We identify a critical need for a deeper understanding of societal influences that may affect setting and achieving realistic restoration goals. Castanea dentata may serve as an important model to inform reintroduction of threatened plant species in general and foundation forest trees in particular. Contents Summary 378 I. Castanea dentata as a model at the intersection of reintroduction biology and restoration ecology 379 II. Technological approaches for recovery of Castanea dentata 381 III. Ecology of the historically dominant Castanea dentata in contemporary forests 385 IV. Societal challenges for successful reintroduction of Castanea dentata 388 V. Conclusions 389 Acknowledgements 389 References 389
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La compensation écologique, instrument de promotion du développement ou d'initiation à la transition écologique: le cas de l'introduction de la non-perte nette des milieux humides et hydriques au Québec
  • Jan 2022
  • 269-288
  • C Jacob
Jacob, C. (2022). La compensation écologique, instrument de promotion du développement ou d'initiation à la transition écologique: le cas de l'introduction de la non-perte nette des milieux humides et hydriques au Québec. In A. Zaga-Mendez, J.-F. Bissonnette, & J. Dupras (Eds.), Une économie écologique pour le Québec : Comment opérationnaliser une nécessaire transition (pp. 269-288). Presses de l'Université du Québec.