STREAM WATCH OFFERS CHANCE TO GET UP CLOSE TO NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
May 26, 2014
Anybody looking to get their feet wet in community environmental volunteering might want to consider the South Nation Conservation Stream Watch Program.
Several opportunities to become involved are coming up, starting with a stream-side cleanup June 12 along Findlay Creek in south Ottawa. Come on out! Bring your work gloves and hand tools. Some tools and garbage bags will be available on site.
“It’s all about incorporating volunteers into keeping an eye on stream health,” said SNC Fish and Wildlife Technician Phillip Duncan. “In getting residents closer to the streams through the program, we help generate greater interest in the wellbeing of those water courses.”
As yet unscheduled, other Stream Watch opportunities in Ottawa and surrounding area this spring and summer will include Shields Creek through Greely, and unnamed tributaries of the Castor River at Embrun and Russell. For details as they become available, contact pduncan@nation.on.ca.
In addition to clean-ups, Stream Watch activities may include tree-planting days, habitat improvement, and monitoring whereby volunteers receive training in operating the necessary equipment and submitting data to the SNC office.
Volunteers also collect stream condition information about barriers to fish migration, bank erosion, and plants and other organisms in and close to the water.
“The aim is to collect valuable data regarding the physical and biological aspects of a given stream,” Duncan said.
Volunteers are instrumental in completing projects along streams and rivers in the 4,200 square-km watershed.
“It’s too much for South Nation staff to get done without the help of area residents,” Duncan said, adding that consistent monitoring is paramount in the success of watershed planning, management and reporting.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Phillip Duncan, 877-984-2948, ext. 292.
pduncan@nation.on.ca