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.
Are Canadas lakes becoming salty?
The impacts of road salts on freshwater ecosystems has been an issue of increasing concern in recent years. Their potential impacts on flora and fauna, unsuited to these new saline conditions, could be vast - and this urgency commands a need for a better public understanding of how we can manage this issue. Read this blog post to learn what is causing recent increases in salinity and how we can work together to reduce its impact on our freshwater.
Are There Alternative Solutions to Road Salts?
There is no doubt that managing road salt pollution is a top priority issue here in Canada. But what other options do we have? How can we keep our roads safe without sacrificing the health of our freshwater ecosystems? This blog post outlines some possible alternatives that researchers are investigating, including organic de-icers, traction agents, geothermal heated pavements, and more.
Attention to detail
This blog post from our executive director showcases his appreciation for the work of Michael A. Reader, a wood carver that has donated his work to support Watersheds Canada's causes in the past. With a focus on North American birds, Mike's work brings Canadian wildlife's beauty to life like no other. This blog post also provides an overview of Watersheds Canada's work that showcases the same attention to detail found in Mike's work.
Best Practices for Municipalities: Reducing Pollution from Pools and Hot Tubs
This blog post shares the best ways municipalities can help the public reduce pollution from pools and hot tubs. Learn about everything from wastewater management planning, to enacting by-laws, to monitoring and reporting, to raising public engagement and awareness and more.
Best Practices from the ECCC Code of Practice: Aiming for Reduced Salt Pollution
Environment and Climate Change Canada's document, the “Code of Practice for the Environmental Management of Road Salts”, is an important contribution to the discussion about managing road salt pollution. This blog post discusses and summarizes the practices endorsed by this code to facilitate the process of making prudent decisions about road salt pollution.
CBC segment October 13/23: Impact of community newspaper closures for nonprofits
This segment originally aired on October 13, 2023 on CBC Ottawa News. Watersheds Canada's executive Robert Pye discusses the impact of community newspaper closures for nonprofit organizations.
Can Natural Buffers Help Mitigate Road Salt Pollution?
When it comes to road salts, there is no one-size-fits-all solution: the problem needs to be addressed from multiple angles. Watersheds Canada advocates for natural shorelines for erosion mitigation and habitat quality purposes, but could natural shorelines be an important tool in fighting road salt pollution? Find out in this blog post!
Canada Prepares to Ban Single-Use Plastics blog
This blog post was written after Canada banned single use plastics. Read this post to learn more about this nationwide ban, about the scale of the plastic pollution issue, and to find out about some practical ways that everyday consumers can reduce their use of single-use plastics.
Canadas freshwater future. Your legacy.
Doug and Janet care about Canada's lakes and rivers. Their relationship with water inspired support for lake protection programs through Watersheds Canada. Doug and Janet shared legacy interests with Watersheds Canada’s team because they saw a need to support the freshwater protection work of our small, action-based charity. Doug’s idea for legacy giving was encouraged by his wife, Janet, as well as their financial advisor. The formal legacy plan, detailing how and where donation dollars would be earmarked, was developed with care and compassion by the Watersheds Canada team. This is the Doug Smith story.