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.
Macroinvertebrate Biomonitoring: Small Creatures, Big Impacts
Biomonitoring involves using living creatures (bioindicators) to determine changes in water quality. It is especially important in rivers in streams, where rapid changes in hydrology make typical water quality measurements less indicative than in still waters. This blog post provides an in-depth overview of macroinvertebrate biomonitoring and provides you some options for you to get involved in this important endeavour yourself.
Maintaining your Septic System
Maintaining a septic system is crucial to prevent costly repairs and environmental damage. Improperly treated wastewater can contaminate groundwater and aquatic ecosystems, posing significant health risks. To ensure a septic system functions properly, it's essential to choose the right type of system for your home, considering factors such as size, household needs, and budget. Learn more in this blog post!
Managing Water Runoff
The water flowing off our properties can carry with it all the nutrients, pesticides, bacteria, and other harmful substances that it picks up along the way. This blog post provides an overview of some of the most impactful changes you can make to your property to manage surface water runoff properly, including using riparian buffers, eavestroughs, alternative lawns, and rain gardens.
Marshes are some of my favourite places - Jennifers Natural Edge testimonial
Jennifer was one of many volunteers who recently helped renaturalize two shoreline properties on the St. Lawrence River. Using native plants in and around a marsh area, the shoreline property will now be more resilient to flooding events and erosion.
Mary Janes Creek Walleye Spawning Bed Restoration - Watersheds Canada
Funding from Cabela’s Canada Outdoor Fund and the LUSH Charity Pot has allowed for the restoration of a historic walleye spawning bed in Mary Jane’s Creek near Westport, Ontario. The project was completed thanks to Watersheds Canada, the Westport Area Outdoors Association, local volunteers, and Tackaberry G & Sons Construction Co Ltd. One hundred and eight tonnes of washed river stone was placed in the creek and along the banks on October 3, 2019. Silt curtains were hung to minimize impacts on the system. The rocks will be critical to walleye spawning because typical spawning sites include gravel shoals or rocky, wave-washed lake shallows.
Matching Communications Methods/Tools with your Changing Audience – Barbara King, Executive Director, Watersheds Canada Presentation
The document discusses the importance of understanding different generations and their communication preferences. It highlights the characteristics of various generations, including Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Y. The author emphasizes the need to use a variety of communication methods and messages to reach different audiences and to be flexible in approaches. The document also touches on the role of technology in communication and the importance of understanding how people process information.
Maude Barlow at the Watersheds Gala
On January 22nd, 2015, we hosted our first fundraiser, the Watersheds Gala. We were honoured to have renowned author and citizens’ advocate, Maude Barlow, as our keynote speaker, and the energetic and revered Canadian professor and naturalist, Michael Runtz, as our Master of Ceremonies. You can view Maude's presentation here!
May all your Christmases be green
This personal letter from executive director Robert Pye discusses the impact of our Save Our Shorelands campaign. This campaign saw over 5,000 of letters addressed to MPPs, which helped Watersheds Canada make two official submissions to the Ontario legislature about shoreland development and the leadership and knowledge of municipalities and conservation authorities.
Meet Susan Gottlieb - Watersheds Canada Donor Profile
Susan Gottlieb is a prominent and long time supporter of Watersheds Canada. She, along with her husband, is an advocate for the restoration and protection of wildlife habitat.