Welcome to the Watersheds Canada Resource Library!
Here you will find a comprehensive collection of free educational resources dedicated to helping rural shoreline property owners, families, municipalities, lake groups, and educators protect their lakes and restore natural habitat. Explore guides, best practices, case studies, lesson plans, and tools to become a freshwater protector. All resources are freely shareable so please include them in a newsletter, on social media, or printed for a community booth!
Funding support thanks to Peterborough K.M. Hunter Charitable Foundation, and S.M. Blair Family Foundation.
Erosion by Love Your Lake
Shoreline erosion can happen naturally or be caused by human disturbances. Human activities cause 10 times more erosion than natural processes. Removing shoreline vegetation and other human activities can cause erosion and affect water quality and wildlife habitat. To prevent erosion, protect the natural shoreline, reduce runoff, minimize boat wakes, take precautions during construction, and limit foot traffic.
Giving Back to Your Freshwater: Using The Natural Edge to create a resilient and beautiful shoreline
Natural shorelines, those with lots of native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers, are healthy shorelines. This blog post reviews current trends in shoreline ownership with regards to shoreline health, and provides an overview of The Natural Edge program which seeks to improve it. It also provides some advice on how everyday people can take action to improve conditions for their own lake.
Healthy Shorelines, Healthy Lakes workshop
Sustainable land use planning is key to protecting the health and enjoyment of Ontario’s lakes and rivers. A natural, resilient, and low impact method of buffering adjacent water bodies from the impacts of waterfront development is the planting of native vegetation along the shoreline. Municipal councillors, planners, and waterfront associations are invited to join us as we discuss the scientific benefits of natural shorelines and different policy and planning tools available to municipalities aimed at protecting and maintaining vegetative shoreline buffers. Municipal case studies will also be featured to learn what select municipalities are doing now.
How Can We Care for Our Lakes?
Shoreline ecosystems, or riparian zones, are especially valuable habitat for terrestrial and aquatic wildlife. The shoreline area includes the first 30 metres of land and is considered the ribbon of life because it supports 70% of land-based wildlife and 90% of aquatic species at some point in their lifetime. Native wildlife like fish, waterfowl, and migratory birds depend on healthy water and natural components like woody debris and aquatic vegetation for food, shelter, nesting, and breeding. Waterfront development has on-land impacts, as well as our freshwater resources. How humans manage different factors like stormwater runoff and natural buffers has impacts on wildlife communities, the local environment, and humans.
How can residents have the greatest impact for their lake? A Natural Edge testimonial
Daryl Neve is the current President of the Dog and Cranberry Lakes Association (DCLA). Recently the DCLA partnered with Watersheds Canada's Natural Edge Program to restore two properties with hundreds of native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. Hear what Daryl shares is the key way residents can have the greatest impact for the lake and water quality.
How do you Love Your Lake?
Lakes are the places we go to enjoy quality time with friends and family, find peace and quiet, and connect with nature. However, it's important for us to limit our impact on these beautiful bodies of water and all the wildlife they support so that we can continue to enjoy them in the future. Part of our celebration of 10 years of our Love Your Lake program, this blog post provides an overview of the value of the freshwater systems in Canada, and tells of one of the best ways we can help protect them: by restoring their shorelines.
Jane and John McAllister Testimonial - Natural Edge
Jane and John McAllister of Graham Lake participated in both the Natural Edge program and the Love Your Lake program offered by Watersheds Canada. Here they share what they would tell potential future participants to the programs, and what they learned.
Know, and love, your lake!
Canada is a country known for its lakes. These vast, complex ecosystems provide countless opportunities for recreation and leisure, but our understanding of them and how they work is sometimes limited. This blog post sheds some light on why lakes are so important, what makes one healthy/unhealthy, and describes how you can better care for your lake.
Lakeside Living: Changing the Paradigm
Living next to a lake is a dream shared by many people. Many have visions of relaxing by the water with their friends and family, enjoying the peace and quiet that rural living provides. However, its important that anyone moving from an urban area doesn't bring their city land care practices with them, as lakeside living comes with a responsibility to protect all that makes it special. Learn about how you can adapt to lake living for nature's sake in this blog post!