2025 Lake St. Peter Restoration Project
Lake St. Peter is a small lake located in Hastings Highlands, Ontario. It is found next to a village and a provincial park of the same name. Watersheds Canada’s Fish Habitat team visited the lake in September 2024 to deliver a brush bundle project. In September 2025, they followed up this work with another initiative to benefit specifically Lake Trout: a spawning bed restoration project.
The bed that was restored is located on a shoal directly in the middle of the lake. Standing in water less than a foot deep, staff and volunteers used a high-powered pump and brushes to clean silt and algae off the rocks and catch it with a silt curtain. By removing such debris from the spawning bed, eggs of this sensitive fish species are adequately oxygenated throughout their development.
The spawning bed was further enhanced with the addition of 8 tonnes of washed river rock, brought out on a floating barge and distributed by hand via buckets. This final step will introduce more texture onto the bed for eggs to safely lie in.
This project brought out 16 volunteers from the community eager to pitch in to create a more stable and resilient Lake Trout population in their lake. It was delivered thanks to strong partnerships with Lake St. Peter Property Owners Association, Bancroft Area Stewardship Council, and North Hastings Community Fish Hatchery.
Funding for this project was generously provided by iA Financial, Safari Club International – Ottawa Valley Chapter, Bancroft Area Stewardship Council, Echo Foundation, OFAH Community Conservation Fund, and Lake St. Peter Property Owners’ Association. All Watersheds Canada fish habitat projects are completed with applicable permits and approval by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
In partnership with grassroots organizations and local volunteers, Watersheds Canada has completed many fish habitat restoration projects across Eastern and Central Ontario over the past ten years, including walleye spawning bed enhancements, cold-water creek enhancements, lake trout spawning bed enhancements, and in-water habitat enhancements through the deployment of brush piles (woody debris). If you think your Ontario waterfront community could benefit from a fish habitat enhancement project, please check out the free Fish Habitat Enhancement Toolkit: Watersheds.ca/download-the-fish-habitat-enhancement-toolkit/
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