The Bay of Quinte
The Bay of Quinte is one of the most picturesque bodies of water in Lake Ontario. Its shoreline stretches in a Z-shape from Trenton to Bath for almost 100 kilometers. The Bay's watershed is the largest in Southern Ontario, over 18,000 square kilometers and includes lands drained by the Trent, Moira, Salmon and Napanee rivers and a host of smaller tributaries.
The watershed includes the primarily agricultural based Prince Edward County to the south of the bay. The Trent River is responsible for most of the flow through the bay. The shoreline of the bay includes 19 provincially significant wetlands. About 400,000 people live in the area, with the population concentrated in the cities of Trenton and Belleville, the towns of Napanee, Picton and Deseronto, as well as the Mohawks of Tyendinaga Territory.
In 1985, the International Joint Commission (a Canadian – American Great Lakes watch-dog), under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, identified the Bay of Quinte as one of 43 Great Lakes Areas of Concern …a pollution hot-spot. The Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan and its partners are, successfully, under-taking actions to rehabilitate the Bay.