It’s white and granular andgets spread heavily every winter. We see it pouring onto highways and staining our boots. It’s familiar.And it’s toxic.
It’s road salt, and it’s having a devastating impact on the freshwaterecosystems of the Great Lakes.
Road salt,the most common beingsodiumchloride, dissolves easily in water and flowsfrom roads and parking lotsinto the sewers, and then into our creeks,wetlands,rivers and lakes. In the winter and spring in the Great Lakes region,saltlevels in groundwater and surface water regularly reach levels that are dangerous for wildlife.
WWF-Canada’srecent Watershed Reportsshowedvery high threats from pollution to the Great Lakes watershed. In this region, withits dense network of pavement and people, excessive use of saltin winteris responsible for the toxic conditions damaging aquatic life.
Freshwater fish can’t survive in water that’s too salty, and salty water killseggs and larvae of wildlife such asmussels. Frogs and turtles die when there’s too much salt in lakes and rivers.
Disturbingly, there arereports that salt-water species such asblue crabs introduced into Ontario lakes and riversare able to survive because of all the saltwe’ve dumped into the environment.
This graphic shows the measurementofCooksville Creek in Mississauga, Ont.,after the firstsignificantsnowfall in the Greater Toronto Area on Dec. 11, 2017. Road salt was spread during the wintry conditions and the effects on the creek were evident within hours. Thedeeperpink background area showswheresalt reaches unhealthylevelsfor aquatic life. Because wintry conditions have continued since that day in mid-December, salt levels have remained very high and unsafe for wildlife in the creek for weeks now.
Roadsalt also ends up in our drinking water. Although Health Canada does not set a maximum concentration for chloride in drinking water, in some places in Ontario, such as Waterloo Region,saltconcentrations can reach the level where tap water tastes salty.
World Wildlife FundCanada is working toachievea measurable reduction in road-salt use in Ontario over the next three years to improve the health of our freshwater ecosystems. To achieve this, we are:
- Partnering with businesses to reduce salt on their properties.Seventyper cent ofroad saltcontamination in the Great Lakes watershed comes from private property, often large parking lots such asthe ones around big-box stores. We’re partnering withproperty-management groups and creating tools to help them reduce their salt use this winter.
- Encouragingtraining andcertification.We’re working withthe Smart About Salt Councilin Ontarioto promote certificationfor those whosalt roads andparking lots.Through collaborations with Landscape Ontario, we are engaging contractors to reduce the salt they spread. Using more salt isn’t better or safer, and education will help balance public safety with environmental concerns.
- Working for policy change.We’readvocating forapolicy change that will require commercialenterprisesand municipalities in Ontario that use roadsalttoundergotraining and certification. With our partners, including the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, we’re advocating for an Ontario-wideroad-saltreduction strategy.
The salt spread on our roads andparking lotsdoesn’t melt away with the snow: It accumulates in our creeks, rivers andother water systems. We mustrecognizethe damage it does to freshwater wildlife, and take steps to stop the harm.
