Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News
The Newsletter of the Great Lakes
Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund
The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News is the newsletter of the Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund, published five times per year. The News is intended to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas among citizens and organizations working to protect aquatic habitats in the Great Lakes Basin.
Volume 14, Number 5 • Winter 2006
Lake Huron Basin Update - Ontario Side
Pine River Watershed Improvement – a recipe to WIN
By Geoff Peach, Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation, and Doug Brown, Lurgan Beach Association and
founding chair of the Pine River Watershed Improvement Network
Posted beaches warning against swimming and mounds of
rotting algae washing up on beaches are a powerful motivator
for grassroots action. Beaches in the Township of Huron-Kinloss
have been plagued with these problems in recent years,
giving local cottagers concern that their beach was no longer
swimmable and that their property values could be affected by
deteriorating water quality. More fundamentally, they were
becoming concerned that the special coastal environment to
which many sought refuge was becoming polluted by expansive
farming operations and increasing shoreline development.
The Township of Huron-Kinloss is mid-way along Ontario’s Lake
Huron shoreline, and is drained by the Pine River watershed.
Water testing by the municipality over the past nine years has
indicated that the water draining out of the Pine River into Lake
Huron has been chronically polluted with high bacteria and
nutrients. Nearshore lake testing by the local Health Unit has
also suggested that bacterial impairment of local beaches has
become a chronic problem in recent years.
Three beach associations in Huron-Kinloss, representing about
700 cottagers, identified these water quality concerns as far
back as the late 1990s. The Association presidents met regularly
to discuss this common issue of concern. Recognizing that water
impairments originated well beyond the shoreline, the Lurgan
Beach Association and the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal
Conservation pulled together a working committee represented
by cottagers, farmers, the municipality, the Coastal Centre,
Health Unit, Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Pine River Boat
Club, and the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority to discuss
how local water quality improvements could be made. Calling
itself the Pine River Watershed Improvement Network (Pine
River WIN), the objective from the outset was to take a positive,
collaborative approach to water quality improvement. The
committee wanted to make a concerted effort to avoid the
traditional finger pointing between farmers and cottagers that
beset other communities along the lakeshore. Having people
work together from the beginning was considered the key to the
success of this committee.
A number of guest speakers were invited to speak to the
committee on topics ranging from nutrient management to
natural channel design. As the committee became more
knowledgeable and confident, it decided that, to better facilitate
the planning and execution of action related projects, it needed
to become a “Committee of Council.” In 2005, Township Council
officially recognized the committee, giving it status as a
Committee of Council.
The committee then decided that, global study and planning
was helpful but specific targets and projects were necessary.
Otherwise, committee interest would wane. They also
decided that given the fact that the watershed was
primarily farmed land, action projects should be
targeted to assisting local farmers. Using the motto
“keep it simple,” initial projects would include fencing
cattle from the river, planting trees, developing buffers,
and construction of cattle crossings. Stimulated by the
possibility of funding from Environment Canada’s
“Adopt-a-Watershed Pilot Project” (December 8, 2005),
the committee worked to secure funding, find local
partners and begin implementation. By spring 2006,
projects were underway.
Environment Canada was looking for some pilot watersheds in
southern Ontario in which to promote its community-based
Adopt-a-watershed program. Fortunately, the existence, make
up and goals of the Pine River WIN fit well into the criteria of the
Adopt-a-watershed pilot project” outline.
Seed funding, in the amount of $25,000 per year was made
available to the committee to get some of these projects off the
ground. The initial projects were chosen in highly visible areas
where the community-at-large could see that efforts were
underway to make improvements. To help people identify the
project sites, and further encourage public thinking towards
improving water quality in the watershed, signs were installed
facing the local roadways. Additionally, a display booth with
maps, committee information and literature was set up at the
local fall fair. Information and educational updates have been
included in Township mailings.
As part of the Adopt-a-watershed initiative, Environment Canada
requested that the committee distribute a survey within the
community to both farm and non-farm landowners. The survey
was designed to gain a better understanding of the local
stewardship practices. The committee hired a person to conduct
these face-to-face surveys during the summer of 2006.
Approximately 150 surveys were completed, the results of which
should be known by the end of the year.The surveys will help the
committee, and Environment Canada, better understand how
township residents currently manage their land, and what ‘best
stewardship practices’ need to be promoted in Huron-Kinloss.
In the meantime, the committee continues to work on
developing further practical and educational projects for 2007.
The Pine River Watershed Improvement Network is a good
example of a grassroots initiative where a group of committed
volunteers can take a vision and make tangible efforts to improve
the health of their local watershed.We may not see a decline in
beach postings anytime soon, but importantly, local citizens have
seen a problem, and realize that waiting for government, or
“someone else,” to provide solutions could be a long wait…
and may not have the same positive results.
For more iformation:
Geoff Peach, Lake Huron Center for Coastal Conservation
P.O. Box 178, Blyth, Ontario, Canada N0M 1H0
PH: (519) 523-4478 • Fax: (519) 523-4929
E-mail: geoff.peach@lakehuron.on.ca
Website: www.lakehuron.on.ca
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