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.
Dragonflies as a Bio-indicator of Water Health
Biomonitoring involves surveying macroinvertebrates (often the larval form of insects) that are sensitive to environmental changes, immobile, and widespread. Such traits allow these creatures to integrate and represent long-term water quality changes more effectively. This blog post centers on one important bio-indicator: dragonflies! It tells of the important roles they play in freshwater ecosystems and in our monitoring activities.
Eastons Creek Brook Trout Enhancement Project - Watersheds Canada
Funding from Cabela’s Canada Outdoor Fund and the LUSH Charity Pot has made it possible for the planting and caging of 73 black willow and silver maple trees along Easton’s Creek, about 45 minutes northwest of Perth. This project addresses declining near-shore fish habitat quality by restoring in-water structures, spawning areas, and shoreline fish habitat. Waddle Creek is one of the few cold water brook trout creeks in the Mississippi Valley Watershed, flowing into Easton’s Creek and then into the Clyde River. By enhancing and restoring the habitat in this cold water creek, we will help restore and improve this brook trout population. The planting and caging on August 12-13, 2019 was a tremendous effort from: the Lanark County Stewardship Council, the Lanark & District Fish & Game Conservation Club, the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority, and Watersheds Canada.
Economic Value of Green Infrastructure
Green infrastructure involves building with nature, incorporating green elements into our city landscape for ecological, economic, and social benefit. This powerful trend has gained increasing attention in recent years as a key strategy for achieving sustainable and climate change resilient environments. This blog post provides a thorough overview of green infrastructure, including the benefits it provides, the types of green infrastructure that can exist, case studies of different projects and their impacts, and much more.
Finding Optimism this International Youth Day
Many youth these days struggle with ecoanxiety: that is, the worry of climate change and it's impacts on our society. This inspirational blog post is a reflection from one of our past interns on this topic. It provides a look into his experience with ecoanxiety, and how he strives to maintain his optimism and make changes in his own life towards sustainable living.
Fireworks and Freshwater Ecosystem Health
Fireworks are dazzling pyrotechnic displays enjoyed by many across the world. However, these stunning celebrations can come with massive impacts on our environment, from acute impacts on wildlife to long-term water quality issues. This heavily researched blog post takes a deep dive into the potential impacts of fireworks on our freshwater resources.
Fish Habitat Projects: LUSH Impact Report, 2018-2020
Watersheds Canada, in partnership with local organizations, worked to protect and enhance freshwater fish habitats. Six fish habitat projects were completed from 2018-2020, supported by LUSH Charity Pot. The projects included brush bundle installations, cold-water creek enhancements, and walleye spawning bed restorations. The organization also created and distributed a free Fish Habitat Enhancement Toolkit to help community groups enhance fish habitats. The report highlights the impact of these projects on aquatic ecosystems and the communities involved.
Get to Know your Pollinators
Pollinators are a type of insect or animal that helps plants reproduce. Without them, we wouldn't have our beautiful wildflower gardens, the clothes on our backs, the grains in our bread, the spices in our food, and so much more. Get to know the major groups of pollinators that are native to Canada, from bees to hummingbirds, in this blog post!
Go with the Flow: Rivers and Streams
Given that rivers and streams are always in motion, these freshwater ecosystems are fundamentally different in form and function to still bodies of water such as lakes. This blog post provides an overview of rivers and streams and takes a deep dive into the unique conditions they create and the unique wildlife they support.
Help Wildlife Raise Their Young on Your Property
Wildlife face increasing pressures to find suitable habitat and food sources near human development: there are increased pressures from flooding, erosion, and pollution along shorelines. Wildlife need safe and natural areas to raise their young to ensure their populations stay healthy. This blog post provides some ways you can do so using constructed structures, such as bird houses and bat boxes. It has instructions to build these items yourself, too!