NVCA receives grant to improve water quality ‘from brook to bay’
The Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority (NVCA) has received $100,000 from the Great Lakes Local Action Fund to help protect, restore and conserve the Nottawasaga River, Georgian Bay and the Great Lakes.
“We are very grateful for this funding from the Province of Ontario,” said Sarah Campbell, Aquatic Biologist at NVCA. “Restoring the Nottawasaga Watershed has always been community driven. Thanks to this grant, we will be able to engage local volunteers and work with partner groups including Nottawasaga Futures-South Simcoe Streams Network, Friends of the Mad River and Saugeen Ojibway Nation to continue essential restoration efforts.”
The money will be used to create vegetation buffers along watercourses, control invasive species, and restore aquatic habitats, which will collectively enhance the ecological health and resilience of the watershed in the face of climate change.
NVCA will be able to work with landowners and volunteers to plant 3,250 native streamside trees; create 820m2 of shaded stream channel and aquatic habitat and 800m2 of wetland habitat; install 700 metres of livestock fencing; remove 0.15 ha of invasive common reed (Phragmites) from the Silver Creek coastal wetland; and monitor the abundance of larval Lake Sturgeon, a species at risk.
The Nottawasaga River is the largest river flowing into Georgian Bay. It originates near Orangeville and flows north for 150 kilometres to Georgian Bay at Wasaga Beach, collecting water from many rivers and streams and connecting wetlands.
NVCA, along with its partners and volunteers, will complete restoration work within critical cold-water streams, the main Nottawasaga River, and sensitive coastal wetlands in Georgian Bay to bring back ecological function to these areas.
Habitats in the Nottawasaga River and its tributaries support naturally reproducing trout and salmon populations, which are vital for recreational sport fisheries throughout Lake Huron and the Great Lakes. These waterways are also home to many native fish species and aquatic wildlife that need healthy water to survive.
Human activities such as urban development and agriculture release sediment and excess nutrients into the Nottawasaga River, degrading water quality and harming aquatic habitats. Climate change exacerbates these issues by increasing water temperatures. Without intervention, the degradation of water quality and loss of cold water habitats will continue, negatively impacting the region’s biodiversity, recreational opportunities, and economic activities.
Contributed photo: The Great Lakes Local Action fund supported cattle crossing and bank stabilization.
