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Happy Thanksgiving!
A very Happy Thanksgiving weekend to you, your family, and your loved ones!
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Partners research water, climate in Parkhill Watershed
Ministry, conservation authority, education are partners in this research
The spread of algae blooms in Lake Huron affects the health of humans, the health of the lake, and the health of the economy, according to partners in a research project in the Parkhill Watershed.
Ministry, university, and conservation authority partners are conducting local research on water, weather, and climate at the Integrated Water and Climate Station installed in 2012 near Parkhill.
In 2022, researchers from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks (MECP); Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA); The University of Guelph; and Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) published their findings. The research looks at how surface water (such as a creek, river, or lake) and groundwater (water under our feet in aquifers) interact in different seasons.
More intense weather events can increase the movement of sediment and nutrients (such as phosphorus and nitrogen), according to the researchers.
Davin Heinbuck, ABCA Water Resources Coordinator, said this research helps us to understand local rivers better. In some streams, such as Parkhill Creek, water is recharging groundwater resources. He says university researchers are leading the study and, in addition, conservation authority staff have maintained a data collection network at Parkhill Creek for more than 10 years, collecting data in all seasons and their insights provided local level context for this research.
“Locally, we conduct monitoring of forest conditions and surface water conditions and the data we collect and interpret and the modelling we use provide valuable information for important research projects like this one,” said Mari Veliz, ABCA Healthy Watersheds Manager. “The findings of this study are important for watershed managers across the Great Lakes basin because we now know more about the supply of water and nutrients from clay-based streams to Lake Huron.”
She also noted that, after 10 years of collecting data, the station is currently undergoing a revitalization, with some new equipment installation supported by MECP.
This article is one of a series during World Water Monitoring Challenge (EarthEcho Water Challenge).
Learn more:
#MonitorWater
PHOTO INFORMATION: PARKHILL WATERSHED MONITORING – The Parkhill area is home to the Integrated Water and Climate Station. Here (left to right in photo), Derek Smith, Surface Water Monitoring Coordinator at Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks (MECP) and Tommy Kokas, Water Resources Engineer at Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) collect data about the response of water conditions to weather and the landscape. The information gathered helps to inform the community, researchers and more regional partners as they work towards shared goals of improved water quality, building watershed resiliency, ensuring economic prosperity and healthy communities.
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Forest health faces threats
Results of local forest studies have Maitland Conservation watershed ecologist concerned
By Cory Bilyea, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Wingham Advance Times
The original article (copyright Midwestern Newspapers) appeared in The Wingham Advance Times (July 27, 2022). Excerpts are printed here along with a link to the full article:
Serious warning signs from local forests in the Maitland Conservation (MC) coverage areas have Watershed Ecologist Erin Gouthro concerned, with more than 80 per cent of the wooded plots showing signs of a “disturbance signal.”
Gouthro began the forest health study in 2021, working with some private landowners in the region to learn more about what is happening. The results so far have not been great, with more than 52 per cent of the study areas seeing more than four types of disturbances.
Gouthro and her team completed assessments on 103 forest plots on 42 private properties across the watershed.
Research is being undertaken in partnership with the University of Toronto Forestry Conservation.
Insects, disease, pathogens, trails, tree cutting, and storm damage are some of the culprits, caused by several risk factors like a lack of diversity, opened canopies, and invasives, Gouthro said in a report to Maitland Conservation.
To read the full article please visit this link courtesy of The Wingham Advance Times/Midwestern Newspapers:
Gouthro reported that the private woodlots studied had “Forest Health Disturbances.”
Other data from the woodlots studied:
- 87 per cent of plots had damage due to insects and disease;
- 69 per cent of plots had tree cutting;
- 51 per cent had the presence of invasive plants; and
- 46 per cent were experiencing trees uprooted and destroyed by wind.
The study methodology used by Gouthro and her team from Maitland Conservation has a focus area of 400 metres, which allows them to have a detailed look at everything going on in the area, along with aerial photography that helps to see what the patterns are in the forests.
“We can make some conclusions and create some stewardship and management directions, some options for the care and management of our forests so that we have them in 100, 200, 300 years.”
The second part of the study, being conducted this year, concentrates on land owned by Maitland Conservation.
The future of forests in southern Ontario is critical to humans, Gouthro said. More frequent studies need to be completed with consistent monitoring, and more work needs to be done to ensure that this essential part of our ecosystem survives.
"... (We) have to understand the forests, we have to manage the forest we have.”
The trees are crucial, but the soil is an essential part.
(There) are landowners who care and want to learn and do the right thing.
“... (They) need to understand what specific actions we can undertake,” she said. “But we need research and monitoring in a collective approach in order to supply that."
“We need to support our conservation authorities so that we can do this work and help our landowners because we work for our landowners at the end of the day.
“This is all for the public. This is the public repository, the public bank account of nature.”
The results of the second part of this forest health study should be available in 2023.
– The article excerpts and link to the article are made possible courtesy of The Wingham Advance Times (Midwestern Newspapers). For the full article visit Midwestern Newspapers.
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Fighting Canada's 'Worst Invasive Plant'
One of the topic presentations at Healthy Lake Huron's meeting in October was Phragmites, hearing about some of the work taking place along Lake Huron's southeast shore to deal with this environmentally harmful reed ('Canada's worst invasive plant').
Here's a video of interest telling you more about why Phragmites must be managed and how local groups are managing it:
The Ipperwash Phrag Phighters, a group of local residents, cottage owners, renters and visitors who want to stop the growth and spread of invasive Phragmites australis in the Ipperwash area, and Lambton Shores Phragmites Community Group, are among the groups, along Lake Huron's southeast shore, fighting European Common Reed (Phragmites australis subsp. australis).
Find out about this invasive plant, how it chokes out wetland habitat and threatens our coastlines … and how you can be part of the work to fight back.
To find out more about the work of Lambton Shores Phragmites Community Group visit their YouTube channel:
Also, visit their Facebook page:
To find out more about the Ipperwash Phrag Phighters visit the web page on the Centre Ipperwash Community Association website:
Visit this Phragmites web page for publications on managing this pest:
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Maitland Conservation, Scott family recognize landowners and partners in municipal drain demonstration project
By Cory Bilyea, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The original article (copyright Midwestern Newspapers) appeared in The Wingham Advance Times (Thursday, July 21, 2022). Excerpts are printed here, with appreciation, along with a link to the full article:
“This is a legacy that will carry on for generations,” said Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson during a celebration at the Scott Farm on Nature Centre Road just outside of Belgrave.
“I can just see Murray smiling in the background with his hat perched on his head in that special way he wore it,” Thompson said, acknowledging the man who started it all with a simple request to Maitland Conservation.
Murray Scott, who was the property owner when the project began, passed away on April 25, 2017.
Family, friends, neighbours, and several local dignitaries stopped by the farm on July 14 (2022) to attend a celebration and guided tour of the completed project, where they were honoured for their cooperation and assistance for their support.
To read the full article please visit this link courtesy of The Wingham Advance Times/Midwestern Newspapers:
(A) 2018 report to North Huron council was to provide information about an expansion to the project that would “undertake additional channel improvements to the drain as well as incorporating past rural stormwater management projects into the report of the municipal drain.”
The report acknowledged the dramatic improvement to the upstream portion that “now sustains brook trout reproduction” and provides “critical spawning for salmonids that enter the Maitland River from Lake Huron.”
The fisheries’ improvement included bank stabilization, juvenile cover, spawning habitat, and improved water quality.
“The Scott Municipal Drain Demonstration Project is an innovative example of how drainage systems can be designed to protect and improve the natural environment,” a media advisory from MC said. “Recently a new section of channel was restored and many previously constructed natural features were incorporated into the drainage report.”
A March 2021 engineering report by RJ Burnside said, “There are many environmental features that have been constructed in and around the Scott Municipal Drain… to improve the water quality characteristics of the watershed area, provide water storage and runoff attenuation, and improve the aquatic characteristics of the Scott Municipal Drain to encourage fish species to utilize the drain as they once did.”
The celebration finished with a guided tour through the project, serenaded by hundreds of bullfrogs living in the farm’s wetland areas.
The Scott Municipal Drain Demonstration Project is sure to be a guiding force in the future of municipal drains systems; utilizing the existing landscape and welcoming natural habitat back to the area has created a blueprint that other conservation authorities and municipalities can use for decades to come.
PHOTO INFORMATION: The Scott Family held a congratulatory luncheon and guided tour to members of the team who helped build the Scott Municipal Drain Demonstration Project on their farm. Pictured here are three generations of the Scott Family, from left: Lauren Vanderwal (holding Hudson Pletch); Scott Pletch; Rowan Pletch; Jeff Scott (holding Sidney Scott); Marvin Cook; Wilma Scott; Melanie Pletch; Meribeth (Scott) Vlemmix; Amelia Pletch; and Ben Pletch. (Photo by Cory Bilyea/Midwestern Newspapers)
– The article excerpts and link to the article are made possible courtesy of The Wingham Advance Times (Midwestern Newspapers). For the full article visit Midwestern Newspapers.
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Don't forget to visit the Healthy Lake Huron website!
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