{"id":74070,"date":"2025-07-02T15:35:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T19:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/?p=74070"},"modified":"2025-07-31T19:20:41","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T23:20:41","slug":"98-des-lacs-sont-inaccessibles-la-fondation-rivieres-propose-des-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/98-des-lacs-sont-inaccessibles-la-fondation-rivieres-propose-des-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"98% of lakes are inaccessible: the Rivers Foundation offers solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Montreal, June 18th, 2025<\/strong> \u2013 It is estimated that at least 98% of lakes and rivers in southern Quebec are inaccessible to the public, and the laissez-faire approach to the massive privatization of riverbanks has transformed legal access to water into a privilege. The legal framework is so weak that the situation will deteriorate if nothing is done, warns the Rivers Foundation, which recommends that the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andr\u00e9e Laforest, draw inspiration from the solutions deployed by Scotland, New Zealand, and France to preserve the few existing public access points and create new ones in an increasingly isolated territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is what a study released today by the Rivi\u00e8res Foundation reveals. It analyzes both Quebec case law on legal access to bodies of water and the legal mechanisms adopted in France, New Zealand, the United States, Scotland, and Scandinavian countries to restore public access to bodies of water. These countries, which were exposed to problems similar to those in Quebec, have implemented pragmatic solutions that are easily transposable to the Quebec reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Rivi\u00e8res Foundation recommends three priority actions to the Minister to implement in Quebec:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Limit or exempt the civil liability of owners and managers of public access<\/strong> to encourage them to allow pedestrians to cross their private land to access a body of water. Currently, a property owner who allows pedestrians to cross their land is exposed to civil liability claims in the event of an accident.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Require municipalities to compensate for any loss of existing access with equivalent access to the same body of water or the same territory<\/strong> and to require a riparian owner who requests a subdivision or construction permit to grant an easement to the municipality so that it can provide access to the body of water;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Allowing pedestrian access to private land to access a body of water <\/strong>by adopting a framework law affirming the public nature of the banks, accompanied by concrete mechanisms to create new accesses, including the creation of right-of-way easements when selling private land or the obligation to create new public accesses to the banks when privatizing public riverside land.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The very recent Act respecting land use planning and development requires RCMs to identify lakes or waterways that represent a recreational interest, but municipalities are under no obligation to take concrete measures to protect access to them. It is up to the provincial government to assume its responsibilities to create a clear national framework to address the structural issue of riverbank access in Quebec.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c <em>We can't go back and correct decades of neglect, so we must make it easier to walk on private land to restore access to lakes and rivers. This is what the Scottish and French governments did, as almost all access to the riverbanks had been privatized. They took responsibility and adopted a framework law that sets out guidelines for living together. The owner retains his or her rights to enjoy his or her property and to peace and quiet without prohibiting others from enjoying the lake or river. It's a win-win situation. <\/em>\" says Andr\u00e9 B\u00e9langer, general director of the Rivi\u00e8res Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>98% of lake and river shores are landlocked<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Researchers S\u00e9bastien Rioux and Rodolphe Gonzal\u00e8s have released the initial results of their study on access to water in Quebec.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As geographer Rodolphe Gonzal\u00e8s, professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal, points out, \u201c<em> By cross-referencing cadastral data with the land assessment roles of 104 municipalities from 15 administrative regions, we were able to establish statistics on riparian ownership of watercourses. This allowed us to determine, water body by water body, the extent of private property over public waters. <\/em>\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"translation-block\">\u201cOn average, <em>about 85% of lake and river shorelines are private and therefore inaccessible to the public. Of the remaining 15% of public shorelines, the majority are not intended for public use. These shorelines include bridges, water treatment plants, conservation areas, and other infrastructure that make access to water complicated, if not impossible. In short, we estimate that at least 98% of all shorelines analyzed are, in fact, inaccessible,\u201d says S\u00e9bastien Rioux, professor of geography at the Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Blue Route in difficulty due to the privatization of access to the lakes&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The absence of a clear framework law in Quebec means that municipalities and RCMs must face challenges from riparian owners who believe that the lake or river in front of their homes belongs to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Canot Kayak Qu\u00e9bec, the organization responsible for the development of the Route Bleue, is concerned that access points and rivers will not be protected without clear oversight from the provincial government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"translation-block\">\"It took the municipality of Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs two years to convince local residents to allow it to develop a tiny beach for the benefit of 50% of residents who have no access to the lakes in their municipality. With a clear framework law, we could avoid this kind of conflict. Furthermore, several essential routes for our paddlers have no public access and depend on the goodwill of local property owners, with no guarantee that this access will be maintained in the future. This is the case for the Tewksbury section on the Jacques-Cartier or the Canyon section on the Rouge River, where access is becoming increasingly difficult, if not impossible,\" emphasizes Emmanuel Laferri\u00e8re, Executive Director of Canot Kayak Qu\u00e9bec.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Access to lakes and rivers: a public health issue<\/strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Pierre Lavoie, co-founder of the Grand d\u00e9fi Pierre Lavoie, welcomes the research carried out by the researchers and the Rivi\u00e8res Foundation which highlights the fact that the problem is not anecdotal, but structural.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c <em>It's time we restore access to water for everyone. We've never needed nature more for the physical and mental health of Quebecers. We have a duty to restore access to lakes and rivers for future generations.<\/em>\u00bb, souligne Pierre Lavoie.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Legal access to the riverbanks is practically impossible&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <em>Code civil du Qu\u00e9bec<\/em> provides that everyone can travel on lakes and waterways and enjoy them, under certain conditions, including legal access. Access is increasingly difficult due to the lack of public access and the privatization of the territory, but also because more and more municipalities are imposing excessive fees or regulations that reserve public access to residents, which further harms access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study by the Rivi\u00e8res Foundation: <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/accesauxberges\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/bit.ly\/accesauxberges<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Montr\u00e9al, le 18 juin 2025 \u2013 On estime qu\u2019au moins 98% des lacs et rivi\u00e8res du sud du Qu\u00e9bec sont inaccessibles au public et le laisser-faire face \u00e0 la privatisation massive des berges a transform\u00e9 l\u2019acc\u00e8s l\u00e9gal \u00e0 l\u2019eau en privil\u00e8ge. Le cadre juridique est si faible que la situation va se d\u00e9t\u00e9riorer si on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":72599,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,410,437,438,436],"class_list":["post-74070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communiques","tag-acces-a-leau","tag-acces-aux-berges","tag-acces-aux-lacs","tag-fondation-rivieres","tag-quebec"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74070"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74083,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74070\/revisions\/74083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}