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. Funding support thanks to Peterborough K.M. Hunter Charitable Foundation, and S.M. Blair Family Foundation.
Rain to Roots by Watersheds Canada and Helping Nature Heal Inc. handout
Native plants along shorelines act as a buffer to protect waterways. Having a large shoreline buffer helps to protect water quality by reducing pollution as well as stabilizing water levels and water temperature. Healthy shorelines also provide habitat for a wide range of aquatic and terrestrial species. Effective storm water and runoff management is critical to protect freshwater areas.
Reclaiming our Refuse: The Power of Community Shoreline Cleanups
Shoreline cleanups are an example of a direct, powerful, community-led initiative that has lasting positive impacts for our freshwater. Read this blog post to learn about the powerful benefits of these projects in the way of diverting plastic pollution, and about why it is a greening project offered by the Ottawa Faith Community Capacity Building Program.
Relationships and Water
This personal reflection from former executive director Barbara King shares her views on freshwater protection and what is missing in the modern age. Learn from her stories and ideas about freshwater stewardship, and about how we need to work harder to convert our big ideas into direct action to create real change.
Resilient Shorelands Infographic
The Shoreline is the edge where the land and water meet. The mix of plants, shrubs, and trees form an intricate web of roots, foliage, and fallen limbs that hold the waterfront together and fend off erosion from wind, rain, boat wakes and ice. The Riparian Zone, also known as the Ribbon of Life, extends inland from the shoreline for at least 15 metres and may be flooded during high water periods. It is a natural buffer protecting the shoreline, water quality, and natural habitat both on land and in the water.
Restoring In-Water Fish Habitat on Mazinaw Lake
Watersheds Canada, with the help of the Mazinaw Property Owners Association, Lanark County Stewardship Council, Conservationists of Frontenac Addington, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada – Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program, deployed 24 brush bundles around Mazinaw Lake in August 2018. In 2020 – two years after the initial project – individuals from Watersheds Canada, Ainley Group, and Mazinaw Property Owners Association checked up on some of the brush bundle sites. All bundles visited were inhabited by several species of fish!
Restoring Shorelines along the St. Lawrence River, Ontario
A collaborative project between Watersheds Canada and Cataraqui Conservation restored degraded shorelines by engaging community members on shoreline naturalization activities. These native species of trees, shrubs, and wildflowers will reduce shoreline erosion, improve resilience to climate change and safeguard wildlife habitat in the St. Lawrence River Watershed. This project is generously funded by the Great Lakes Local Action Fund through the Government of Ontario.
Restoring Shorelines with the Help of Technology - Latornell 2019
Watch Watersheds Canada's Chloe Lajoie present at the 2019 Latornell Conservation Symposium. Her presentation, "Restoring Shorelines with the Help of Technology", focuses on the Natural Edge program and working with property owners to naturalize their shorelines with native shrubs, plants, and wildflowers. Using Watersheds Canada's self-developed tablet app, planting plans can be created on-site with landowners to meet their property and personal needs.
Restoring a historic trout spawning bed on Diamond Lake, Ontario
The actual video description is: Diamond Lake, located near Combermere, Ontario, is one of only twelve trout lakes in Renfrew County. Over several months, a community-led effort ensured the historic lake trout spawning bed was restored. The Bass Pro Shops & Cabela’s Outdoor Fund donated critical funds to launch the restoration process of the trout spawning bed. The project was possible because of Diamond Lake property owners and volunteers, the Madawaska Fish and Game Club, Watersheds Canada, Bathurst Burgess Drummond and Elmsley Fire/Rescue Station, the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry (MNDMNRF) Pembroke, and the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) – Zone F. This project has been in the works since 2015 when Kirby Punt, now retired MNDMNRF Biologist, observed the noticeable decline in the trout population and poor quality of the historic spawning bed. Kirby approached Watersheds Canada to see if there was anything that could be done.
Riparian Zones and Climate Change
Climate change resilience is a topical issue these days, especially around waterfront communities. Cottage owners especially should be primed to spot, prevent, and address issues on their properties as a result of climate change. This blog post provides a thorough overview of climate resilience on the shoreline: what might be expected in terms of changes, what you can do to prevent them, and more.