2019/2020 Annual Report Now Available

A Message from Barbara King, Executive Director of Watersheds Canada: “Every Shoreline Matters. Every Action Counts. We have a great responsibility to take care of the very environment that sustains us. The choices we make in our everyday life matters, from how we manage our lands to what products and services we support. What we choose now has consequences for the future health of our freshwater lakes and rivers. We are so proud of the amazing people that have taken action this year to restore ... Read More

This year came with extraordinary challenges, especially for environmental charities like Watersheds Canada. Granting organizations have redirected funding, and group size limits prevented many volunteers from participating in our spring and fall planting seasons. We know that you care about your lake, river, or tributary. As fall comes to an end, and we think back to all the times we turned to nature this year, we know that nature is still in need of our help. Together, we can protect the very ... Read More

The final draft of the "Collaborative Systems Thinking for Effective Engagement" report is now available for download. This report was discussed during the Lake Links 2020 workshop presentation, "Update on Social Engagement study on Rideau Canal with Parks Canada", presented by Isha Mistry & Christine Beaudoin, University of Ottawa and Dr. Steven Cooke, Carleton University. The report discusses water quality in the Lower Cataraqui region of the Rideau Canal. This report is a step-by-step ... Read More

“Effective Engagement for Positive Action” 2020 Lake Links Webinar Workshop Join us at our 19th Annual Lake Links Workshop, “Effective Engagement for Positive Action”, on Saturday, October 24th, 2020 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. as a free online webinar. At this year’s workshop, learn how to better engage with your lake, family, and lake community and discover ways to protect the lake environment and ecosystem. To stay connected this year amidst COVID-19 and physical distancing, we will ... Read More

Attend a shoreline naturalization planting workshop with Chloe Lajoie of Watersheds Canada! Learn best practices for fall planting and how to choose suitable native plant species to naturalize your shoreline. Advanced registration is required so contact tracing can take place if needed (see below). Participants must also fill in a COVID assessment form before arriving on Friday morning. This form is confidential and can be filled out here: ... Read More

Join our Executive Director, Barbara King, for "Standing on the Dock in the Rain: Landscaping your shoreline property for wildlife and water quality", a free online webinar hosted by the River Institute on August 5th @ 7pm. Watersheds Canada has been working on freshwater issues for 12 years. They develop programs such as ‘Love Your Lake’ which promotes healthy shorelines for healthy lakes, ‘The Natural Edge’ which is a shoreline naturalization program, Fish Habitat Programs and many others. ... Read More

July 27, 2020, Perth, Ontario – Watersheds Canada, Canadian Wildlife Federation, private donors, and the Love Your Lake Program are helping property owners across Eastern Ontario naturalize their shorelines with the new Natural Edge shoreline re-naturalization starter kit. Lakes in Ontario are dominated with high levels of shoreline development and nutrient loading. Water quality studies show that much of the poor water quality is linked to land-based activities and lack of shoreline ... Read More

Watersheds Canada staff Maggie and Mel were recently on Mississippi Lake to do their Love Your Lake training. They will learn how to use the peer-reviewed, detailed protocol to evaluate shorelines, noting the degree of impact on and near the shore. These protocols will create property-specific reports outlining voluntary actions that property owners can take to improve the health of their lake. These reports will be ready later this year. This year, Watersheds Canada will survey Kashwakamak ... Read More

Thanks to incredible community partners like the Muskrat Watershed Council and Algonquin College Waterfront Campus, last year the Natural Edge program was able to plant 15,000 native tree and shrub species to help remediate current water quality issues including sedimentation and nutrient loading from agricultural properties lacking critical vegetative buffers. On a recent site visit to check on the plants, we discovered many of them were thriving! These species will be critical in naturalizing ... Read More

Spring planting update from Melissa Dakers, Watersheds Canada lake stewardship coordinator: "While following the strict health and safety measures in place during the pandemic, a few staff from Watersheds Canada and Quinte Conservation, and a few tree planters, were able to plant 4,000 native trees and shrubs. We all travel by ourselves to the site, use our own equipment, and are 6m apart or more from each other to safely complete the project. The planting was done along a tributary through ... Read More