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.
Out on the Lake: Reflecting on my Experience with the Love Your Lake Program
This personal reflection from one of our past interns centers on his experience with Love Your Lake, our shoreline assessment program delivered in partnership with the Canadian Wildlife Federation. It discusses the program's impact on lake communities and how collaboration towards an environmental goal inspires everyone involved.
Plants for the Pugnose Shiner handout
This document highlights native plants that can help improve watershed health and support species recovery in eco-zone 6a. The plants listed are tolerant to a wide range of soil, light, and moisture conditions. They provide benefits such as stabilizing banks, controlling erosion, and supporting pollinators. Choosing native species will help shorelines and the wildlife that live there.
Protecting Your Gardens, Lawn…and Your Lake by Love Your Lake
Many people work hard to have a lush, green lawn. However, what we do on our properties can impact the health of our lakes. Up to 35 per cent of precipitation can run off lawns and enter nearby water bodies. Alarmingly, a U.S. Geological Survey study found higher concentrations of some pesticides in urban waterways in comparison to agricultural settings.
Pugnose Shiner - Wellers Bay and East Lake partner spotlight and individual actions video
The Pugnose Shiner is a small fish in the minnow family that is found in Southern Ontario including near the Quinte watershed. It is assessed as “threatened” by COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) and listed as such under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) Schedule 1. It is very vulnerable to declining habitat quality which is often caused by human activities on land. This project thus focused on landowner engagement and action to help enhance and restore local Pugnose Shiner populations and habitat quality.
Pugnose Shiner Landowner Engagement and Shoreline Habitat Restoration Project
The goal of this project is to focus on education and actions that you as a shoreline property owner, can take on your land to protect wildlife habitat quality and availability for the Pugnose Shiner fish, a Species at Risk. This project will focus on some of the last remaining habitats of the Pugnose Shiner in the Quinte watershed.
Pugnose Shiner fact sheet
The Pugnose Shiner is a threatened species due to declining habitat quality. The species is vulnerable to waterfront development, removal of aquatic vegetation, and decreased water quality and quantity. A shoreline stewardship and education program is available for property owners in the Quinte watershed. The program provides tools and funding support to protect Pugnose Shiner habitat.
Restoring Shorelines with the Help of Technology - Latornell 2019
Watch Watersheds Canada's Chloe Lajoie present at the 2019 Latornell Conservation Symposium. Her presentation, "Restoring Shorelines with the Help of Technology", focuses on the Natural Edge program and working with property owners to naturalize their shorelines with native shrubs, plants, and wildflowers. Using Watersheds Canada's self-developed tablet app, planting plans can be created on-site with landowners to meet their property and personal needs.
Rob Discovers the Natural Edge
Rob is the President of the Mississippi Lakes Association (MLA) and has participated in both the Love Your Lake Program and the Natural Edge Program. Using 64 native tree, shrub, and wildflower species across four planting compartments on his property, Rob is well on his way to a naturalized shoreline! We're excited to continue seeing his plants mature and fill in over time.
Septic Systems: they may be out of sight, but they shouldnt be out of mind!
Septic systems are an integral part of a cottage's infrastructure, but it's important to be careful about their use and maintenance to ensure they don't cause environmental problems. This blog post provides a list of dos and don'ts to help you reduce the environmental risk associated with these systems, in addition to sharing some signs of problems that you need to keep an eye out for that let you know when to contact a professional.