July 10, 2024 – Another successful year for the Love Your Lake program is well underway, with Watersheds Canada ensuring over 1,100 waterfront properties on six freshwater lakes across Eastern Ontario will see environmental benefits for years to come.
Love Your Lake, a program coordinated and delivered by Watersheds Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation, entered into its eleventh year of operation in 2024. This year, Watersheds Canada is fortunate to have the support and knowledge of Ontario-based community partners Chaffey’s Area Lakes Association, Otty Lake Association, and Bennett & Fagan Lakes Association to guide locally relevant stewardship actions and improve freshwater quality.
Watersheds Canada is working with Chaffey’s Area Lakes Association for a second year in a row as shoreline environments are continually being restored. This year, Benson Lake, Clear Lake, and Indian Lake are being assessed through Love Your Lake. Following an original assessment of Otty Lake in 2013, Watersheds Canada and Otty Lake Association will conduct a reassessment of Otty Lake to continue improving local freshwater conditions. In partnership with Bennett & Fagan Lakes Association, Watersheds Canada will support waterfront property owners along Bennett and Fagan Lakes to enhance local freshwater health and resiliency.
Through Love Your Lake, Watersheds Canada engages waterfront communities in stewardship initiatives to empower property owners to restore, protect, and enhance their local freshwater. The riparian zone represents the shoreline ecosystem within the first 30 meters of land surrounding a waterbody. Native species of birds, insects, and other terrestrial and aquatic wildlife depend on the vital habitat provided by this “ribbon of life” for food, water, shelter, and breeding.
“A simple way to improve the health and resilience of a lake and shoreline environment is to create a natural shoreline buffer with native grasses, trees, shrubs, and wildflowers,” said Robert Pye, Watersheds Canada’s executive director. “Naturalized shorelines are cost-effective, ecologically responsible, and aesthetically pleasing. A shoreline rich in native vegetation requires minimal maintenance, protects water quality, promotes shoreline stabilization, and builds capacity for freshwater resiliency against a changing climate.”
In 2024, Watersheds Canada will conduct over 1,100 private shoreline assessments for waterfront properties on six freshwater lakes across Eastern Ontario. In the coming months, each waterfront owner will receive a detailed and confidential report with site-specific observations and recommendations for naturalizing their property.
Love Your Lake is a program that invites waterfront associations and organizations across Canada to volunteer their lake or other waterbody as participants in the program. If accepted, every property on the lake that opts into the program is assessed using a standardized shoreline assessment protocol. Landowners then receive a personalized, confidential property report. Each report contains details on the state of a shoreline and recommends voluntary actions for improving lake health for people and wildlife.
Participate in Love Your Lake to gauge the health of your lake and become a steward of your local freshwater! Learn more about the Love Your Lake shoreline assessment program by visiting LoveYourLake.ca or by emailing loveyourlake (at) watersheds.ca. For helpful tips to keep your shoreline property happy and healthy for future generations, visit loveyourlake.ca/self-assessment for a quick online shoreline self-assessment tool.
Media Contact:
Melissa Dakers
Habitat and Stewardship Program Manager
dakers (at) watersheds.ca
About Watersheds Canada
Watersheds Canada is a national non-profit charitable organization that works with landowners, communities, students, and organizations to enhance and protect freshwater lakes and rivers through developing effective and transferable long-term solutions. Watersheds Canada envisions people caring for their waters, resulting in clean, healthy lakes and rivers to support humans and wildlife for generations to come. Learn more at Watersheds.ca