This document is the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report for the Modifications to the Petitcodiac River Causeway Project. The Petitcodiac River causeway (“causeway”) is a gated dam structure with an installed vertical slot fishway that was built across the Petitcodiac River between the City of Moncton and the Town of Riverview. Figure 1 shows the location of the Petitcodiac River and Figure 2 shows an aerial view of the causeway. Completed in 1968, the causeway was intended to create a second transportation link between the two communities, offer flood protection for farmland between the causeway and the head of tide at Salisbury, and create a freshwater headpond with potential for recreation and as an industrial water source. A bridge would have achieved the transportation objective, but not the other benefits.

This document provides the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the socio-economic component studies of the Petitcodiac River Causeway Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Comments on a the draft of this document from the New Brunswick Department of Supply and Services (DSS), the Technical Review Committee (TRC), the public and participants of the Socioeconomic Workshop1 held May 31, 2003, have been incorporated into this document as applicable.

This document provides the Study Terms of Reference (TOR) for the biophysical component of the Petitcodiac River Causeway Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”). This is a draft document for final review by the public, Aboriginal Community, Stakeholders, and Government Departments and Agencies. Comments from the Biophysical Workshop (held on April 26, 2003), as well as the New Brunswick Department of Supply and Services (NBDSS) and the Technical Review Committee (TRC) have been incorporated into this document.

The AMEC Earth & Environmental Limited Team (AMEC StudyTeam) is pleased to provide the Draft Terms of Reference (TOR) for the hydrodynamic and sediment transport Modelling Component of the Petitcodiac River Causeway Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), hereafter referred to as the Modelling Component Study TOR or the TOR.

In developing the TOR, the AMEC Study team reviewed the findings from the Petitcodiac River/Estuary Modelling Workshop held in March 2002 and developed our approach and methodology in accordance with the recommendations generated by this workshop. As recommended in the workshop, the AMEC Study Team developed preliminary hydrodynamic and sediment transport models and undertook data collection and field investigation programs to facilitate the development of the scope of work for the Modelling Component Study. Also, this process fits with the overall schedule of the EIA and allowed the other aspects of the EIA to develop sufficiently to provide input for defining the scope of the TOR. It is important to note that the focus of the work plan for the modelling component was developed to meet the requirements of the EIA, that is, to provide sufficient information to support the environmental effects assessment of the Status Quo and the options that are being contemplated for the causeway.