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.
Happy Earth Day! 3 Free and Easy Ways to Create Wildlife Habitat
This blog post was written in celebration of Earth Day. It provides you 3 simple and free ways that you can protect sensitive shoreline habitat and the wildlife that live there: creating a "no mow" zone, leaving aquatic logs, and leaving terrestrial logs and leaf litter.
Happy World Snake Day!
Snakes are a vital part of ecosystem health, acting as nature's pest control. This blog post was written for World Snake Day which celebrates these often misunderstood creature for all the good they bring to our ecosystems and brings awareness to the risks that they face. This blog touches on the native snake species we have in Canada, the threats they are facing, and the benefits they provide to our ecosystems.
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.
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!
Helping Kids Love Nature: Water-inspired activities webinar by Annabel Slaight
We all know that inquiry, discovery, playing freely, and even taking risks in the outdoors brings benefits that will last kids a lifetime. ClearWater Farm, a demonstration eco-farm on Lake Simcoe, has been pioneering play-based learning from nature programming for kids right from its launch. In this webinar, you will get a behind-the-scenes preview of two extraordinary kids’ fun learning initiatives being launched this summer: a new e-book ("How to Think Like a Mushroom"), and an action-packed interactive website (http://ClearWaterKids.org) with experiments, games, activities, and videos. Both projects have the same mission: getting kids outside and loving nature!
Helping Your New Plants Thrive
If you're planning on restoring your shoreline using native plants, a few key tips will go a long way in ensuring that the trees, wildflowers, and shrubs stand the test of time. This informative blog post provides you with the best ways to ensure your plants' survival, with tips to take into consideration both during and after the planting.
Hidden Dangers: How Could your Septic System be Affecting Water Quality
This webpage discusses the potential impact of septic systems on water quality, highlighting the risks of untreated wastewater contaminating freshwater sources. Septic systems, commonly used in rural areas, can fail due to excessive water use, improper design, or lack of maintenance, leading to the release of pollutants such as bacteria, viruses, and excess nutrients into the environment. These pollutants can cause algae blooms, deplete oxygen levels, and harm aquatic life, ultimately affecting biodiversity in both freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. Regular maintenance and responsible use of septic systems are crucial to preventing these environmental impacts and protecting Canada's freshwater resources.
History of Cyanobacteria (Blue-Green Algae) in Canadian Waters
Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, have a long history in Canadian waters, dating back approximately 2.7 billion years. These ancient organisms played a crucial role in shaping Earth's ecosystem, but their ability to produce toxic cyanotoxins has led to a bad reputation. Cyanobacteria occur naturally in most water bodies, but large blooms can cause significant harm to aquatic life and human health. Read more in this blog post!
Hot Tubs, Pools, and Freshwater: How to Properly Drain Your Water
If you are a hot tub or pool owner, it is your responsibility to know the proper procedures for their use to limit their impact on native freshwater. This blog post provides a primer on the primary risks brought about by these property features, in addition to a step-by-step guide on how you can properly drain your pool or hot tub water to limit your impact on freshwater.