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.
Blog Posts (Stormwater Management) by Watersheds Canada
This collection of blogs covers various topics related to stormwater management. The authors provide tips and advice on how to create a resilient shoreline, support winter wildlife, and protect lakes from pollution and invasive species.
Blog Posts (Youth Engagement) by Watersheds Canada
This collection of blog posts shares information about youth engagement. The articles cover topics such as pollinator gardens, lake health, snake conservation, and the importance of nature for human health. The blogs also provide educational resources and tips for creating wildlife habitat and reducing plastic waste.
CBC segment May 20/21: Shorelines not a backyard swimming pool, lakefront landowners reminded
This segment originally aired on May 20, 2021 on CBC Ottawa News. Watersheds Canada was featured to share information about why keeping shorelines natural is so important for maintaining lake health.
Coming together to protect the health of Ontarios St. Lawrence River
A three-year, collaborative project between Watersheds Canada, Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, Raisin Region Conservation Authority, River Institute, and Great River Network restored shoreline health in the St. Lawrence River Area of Concern from 2021 to 2024. This project supported important shoreline restoration in the St. Lawrence River AOC. This videos introduces some of these partners and how they became involved with this project.
Creating a Resilient Shoreline: Keeping a natural shoreline that benefits your family and local wildlife
Naturalized shorelines aren't just more beautiful than developed ones: they also provide so many benefits including preventing erosion, providing critical wildlife habitat, preventing geese from entering the property, maintaining water quality, and so much more. Read more about the value of naturalized shorelines, about the process of restoring your waterfront property's habitat, about some great options for plants that you can use, and much more in this blog post!
Currents of Change: Latornell 2019 Vlog
This vlog captures the energy of the Latornell Conservation Symposium, hosted in 2019 in Alliston, Ontario. Follow Digital Communications and Marketing Intern Monica Seidel as she takes you for a tour of the symposium and shares some of what she learned.
Daniel and Susan Gottlieb Lake Stewardship Grant Helps Community Freshwater Initiatives
In 2019, the Daniel and Susan Gottlieb Foundation provided funding support to go towards stewardship projects in their local lake community. This blog post outlines some of the positive impacts made possible by this Lake Stewardship grant, including water quality sampling, invasive species management, and outreach projects.
Doreens Natural Edge testimonial
Wanting to naturalize their property to protect the shoreline and wildlife habitat while also reducing the amount of lawn they had to constantly maintain, Doreen and her husband Rob turned to the Natural Edge Program. Over 600m2 of shoreline was naturalized using over 200 native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. This video shows the progress that has already been made on the property in just three years!
Engaging Municipal Elected Officials to Protect our Freshwater webinar
Leading up to, and following the October 24th Ontario municipal election, Watersheds Canada will help bring rural waterfront communities together for an interactive webinar on what’s on every lakeshore property owners’ mind these days – how are we going to protect natural freshwater features in the wake of climate change and increased shoreline developments? Darlene Coyle, Watersheds Canada’s Environmental Policy and Planning Program Lead, will be speak about the actions municipalities need to take now to ensure that our lakes and rivers are clean and healthy for generations to come. Municipal councilors are elected with the authority to develop and evaluate policies and programs of the municipality. Therefore, it is important to utilize this upcoming election to identify candidates that are prepared to take immediate action to protect our freshwater in the long-term, past their four-year term. This is a chance for property owners to use their voice to make a positive impact on their community by voting this fall! Candidates, get ready to be assessed if freshwater protection is your local priority as we will offer the audience our top 5 questions to ask you before and after election day.