The Grand Strategy Newsletter
The purpose of The Grand Strategy is to expand forums for partnerships, to deal with cross-boundary watershed issues, and to jointly set priorities for work that will have the biggest impact on watershed health.
Over the past year, an organizational structure has been developed for The Grand Strategy that provides several vehicles for partnership building, information sharing and action. The Coordinating Committee includes provincial and municipal governments, First Nations, public representatives and the private sector.
The Committee integrates the activities of the Working Groups
to produce a watershed management plan.
The Working Groups enable people from participating agencies, non-government groups, universities and consultants to work on a particular issue, discuss activities and pool resources. Community round tables, coalitions and stewardship provide direct input.
To assist in dealing with cross-boundary watershed issues, current information is collected in a Geographic Information System. Physical information on water quality, groundwater and surface water movement and natural heritage is being added on a watershed scale framework. This information will be especially useful to local planning boards to place local initiatives in a watershed context.
Some activities undertaken by the Working Groups include updating the Grand River Fisheries Management Plan, and a review of tourism promotional material within the watershed. The Grand River Water Quality Model is being set up by the Water Manager's Working Group to look at the combined effects of municipal wastewater, urban storm water and agricultural activities on river water quality.
The Coordinating Committee, with help from the Working Groups, has put together a package of watershed issues and action items. At a joint meeting on August 23, 1996, the Working Groups will provide more input that will help the Coordinating Committee prepare a five-year plan for working priorities.
The first State of the Grand River Watershed Report will be completed this summer, and work has started on reviewing monitoring priorities.
The Grand Actions newsletter is part of the effort to keep participants in The Grand Strategy informed of the efforts and progress made. In future editions, feature articles will address a particular watershed issue. Readers are invited to contribute with news, comments and articles about their own involvement in The Grand Strategy and watershed-related activities.
What's Happening?
Citizen Aborist Project
A Citizen Aborist is an individual who takes the Citizen Arborist exam, and is willing to donate 30 hours per year to voluntary tree planting and/or maintenance. The Citizen Arborist Project is sponsored by the Canadian Forest Service through Tree Plan Canada.
The pilot project was administered by the International Society of Arboriculturists, Ontario Inc., in collaboration with the Grand River Conservation Authority. A series of workshops and newsletters is being generated to support the Citizen Arborists. For more information about the Citizen Aborist project, please call Martin Neumann at (519) 621-2761.
Coordinating Committee Changes
As a result of the reorganization of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Duncan Armstrong and Bryan Howard have been assigned new duties and will no longer serve on the Coordinating Committee. We thank them for their participation and support and wish them well for the future. We particularly appreciate Bryan's efforts in helping to achieve Heritage River status for the Grand River.
Grand River Water Quality Model
The Grand River Water Quality Model was developed in the 1970's as part of the Grand River Basin Management Study. The model was upgraded in May 1996 with funds provided by the Grand River Conservation Authority, Ministry of Environment and Energy, the City of Guelph, the Brantford Public Utilities Commission and the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. A number of recommendations were made on refining the model.
More research is needed to determine the growth rate and dynamics of a new species of aquatic plant (milfoil) now present in the river and to determine the modeling process for other aquatic plants. The total mass of the plants may also be greater than previously thought.
In February, this year, the Ministry of Environment and Energy provided $40,000 to the Grand River Conservation Authority to improve the modeling capability of the Grand River Water Quality Model.
Part of the money will support research by two graduate students at the Universities of Guelph and Waterloo for one year. The universities will work together to improve the understanding of scientific relation-ships affecting algal and rooted aquatic plant growth. The mass and extent of the plant communities will be mapped for the watershed Geographic Information System.
Refinement of the model will allow watershed municipalities, the Ministry of Environment and Energy and the Grand River Conservation Authority to better manage the water quality of the watershed.
SchoolNet Digital Collections Project
Information about the Grand River watershed will soon be on-line thanks to a multi-partner project now underway at the University of Waterloo. A Web Site is being designed that will make The Grand Strategy and Grand River watershed information available world-wide.
The work is being carried out by three high school students and a team leader under the supervision of the COPPER Trust Foundation in consultation with the Canadian River Management Society, and ecorp ltd. The project is sponsored by the Grand River Conservation Authority and funded by Industry Canada.
How To Make a Watershed
by Liz Leedham
Basic Recipe
Take bedrock. Scour with glaciers, freeze, thaw and erode with wind and water. Continue for thousands of years until the land is shaped with hills and valleys and the surface is worn into small particles of sand and clay. Add rain and snowmelt to drain as streams or rivers to a lake or ocean.
Let water seep underground and move freely downhill, or collect in gravel deposits where its passage is blocked by rock or clay. Enable heavy river flows to spread and lose energy on flat lands beside the river.
Add trees to give oxygen while they live and nutrients when they die. Let roots hold soil and river banks in place, and leaves break the force of violent storms.
Use forests and wetlands to absorb heavy rains and snowmelt. Add animals, birds, fish, insects and humans.
Mix well and use each part of the system to sustain the others.
To Make the Grand River Watershed
To the basic recipe, add humans with customs and memories from many homelands.
Use the rivers for transport and power, drinking water and waste removal.
Bring skills, courage, and determination to create communities with a unique heritage. Flavour with creative individuals, colourful characters and ethnic diversity. Blend for 500 years.
Reshape the land and drainage patterns by cutting forests, draining wetlands, ploughing and paving.
When forests and wetlands no longer moderate river flows, add dams and reservoirs to contain floods and store water for summer droughts. Build dikes and concrete walls to protect homes built on floodplains.
Add population growth and human activity until the natural balance is strained and the rivers and groundwater supplies are no longer clean, abundant and self-sustaining.
Recipe For the Future
Take people with determination to give their children a healthy future. Accept
responsibility for our watershed and create partnerships for action. Mix with
cooperation, planning, stewardship and enjoyment until a sustainable balance is
maintained between all parts of the watershed system.
Display with pride.
In 1995, the Township of Burford, landowners and the Grand River Conservation Authority joined forces to address flooding and water quality problems in Kenny Creek. Four Environmental Youth Corps students spent two summers assessing, monitoring and rehabilitating the creek.
Kenny Creek is 20 km long, draining a watershed of 540 ha. Over the years agricultural land practices including encroachment into stream buffers, unrestricted cattle access, and poorly managed municipal drains had negative impacts on the creek.
Debris and log jams were removed from 15 km of the creek. One log jam contained 5 bush cords of wood. Eight permanent monitoring stations were established to assess conditions and monitor the long-term effectiveness of rehabilitation.
Other activities included an Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters Zone workday, a public Open House and Tour. An newsletter outlining the successes of this cooperative project will be distributed this fall.
David Nichol and Mill Creek
For ten years, David Nichol of Puslinch has dedicated much of his spare time to
rehabilitation of Mill Creek. He organizes, and instructs various groups and
individual volunteers helping with the rehabilitation. Work includes bank
stabilization, construction of spawning beds, clearing logs, and building
deflectors. Mr. Nichol is also involved in regularly monitoring the wild brown
trout population of Mill Creek.
Eden Mills Millpond Conservation Association Inc.
The Eden Mills Millpond Conservation Association Inc. was formed in 1990 to restore, preserve and maintain the Eden Mills millpond as an historic and environmentally significant site.
The group's objectives also include improved awareness and heritage appreciation, along with greater opportunities for outdoor recreation.
The Association works in partnership with Environment Canada to maintain the millpond as a wetland habitat. This is accomplished through weekly monitoring of water levels and temperatures, and bank stabilization.
The Association has made similar efforts to help maintain the health of the Eramosa River, and provides natural history interpretive programs to educate the public about the purpose of their work.
Boys and Girls Club of Brantford The Boys and Girls Club of Brantford is part of a network of clubs which provide educational programs and social activities for young people.
The Brantford club promotes awareness and appreciation of the natural environment in that city's part of the watershed.
Summer programs focus on exploration and discovery in local pond and swamp areas. Campers study birds, trees and animal tracks in the Gilkison Flats area of Brantford. Day camps include excursions to Pinehurst Conservation Area.
We'd Love to Hear From You!
If you are actively promoting the health and heritage awareness of the Grand
River watershed, contact Barb Veale, (519) 621-2763, ext. 274.
The Registry contains 168 voluntarily submitted entries. These describe over 500 activities undertaken by a wide range of contributors to improve watershed health, increase heritage appreciation and support the Grand River as a Canadian Heritage River during 1994 and 1995.
The Registry was compiled by the Grand River Conservation Authority on behalf of all the partners in The Grand Strategy. All contributors will receive a copy.
If you would like to receive an annotated index, or include your entry in the 1996 Registry, phone Barbara Veale at (519) 621-2763, ext. 274, or Fax: (519)-621-4844.
Watch for the announcement of dates and places for Open Houses this fall to review the draft Fisheries Management Plan.
The draft Plan was prepared after a series of public meetings that took place last winter in many communities in the Grand River watershed. Anglers and anyone else interested in commenting on the draft will be able to do so at an Open House.
The Open Houses will take place in several locations in the Grand River watershed.
For more information, please contact:
Warren Yerex
Phone: (519) 621-2763, ext. 249.
Fax: (519) - 621-4844.
August 27, 1996 - Upper Grand Watershed Study public information meeting
A public information meeting on the Upper Grand River Watershed Study
will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Luther Marsh Conference Centre, Luther Marsh.
October 1, 1996 - Grand River watershed GIS Symposium
This event be held at the GRCA Head Office, Clyde Road, Cambridge. It will
bring together representatives from a wide variety of disciplines and agencies
to discuss the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and related
spatial technologies within the Grand River watershed. Practical experiences
and current activities will be the focus of presentations by 13 guest speakers.
Registration details may be obtained by calling George Sousa or Chris Eckstein
at (519) 621-2761.
'Planning to Manage Your Forest' fall workshops
A
series of workshops will be held in the Grand River watershed this fall.
Locations include Grand Valley (September 14), Cambridge (October 5) and
Caledonia (September 25). Preregistration is required. Please contact Martin
Neumann (519) 621-2761 for more information. The workshops will benefit any
landowner but will be of particular interest to those interested in applying for
the Managed Forest Tax Rebate Program and for addressing the woodlot 'long term
plan' component of the Environmental Farm Plan worksheet #23.
A Woodlot
Tour will also be available in Brant County on Saturday, November 23, 1996.
Please contact Rob Wallis at (519) 658-9355 for more information.
This newsletter is produced by the
Grand River Conservation Authority in
cooperation with the Eco-Research
Project of the University of Waterloo.
If you have any comments,
questions or contributions please contact the editor, Elizabeth Leedham, at
Office of Research
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1
Phone: (519) 885-1211, extension 3728.
Fax: (519) 725-9971
eleedham@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca