2008 Watershed Report Card

Here are some of the things you can do to enhance your property, protect your health and protect the health of our watershed:

• Leave a 3 metre, or wider, buffer strip of natural vegetation along waterfronts and stream banks to filter runoff and provide wildlife habitat.

• Mow your lawn to no less than 3 inches in height; leave the clippings on the lawn to decompose naturally and reduce needs for fertilizer. Longer grass will absorb more moisture and reduce the need for watering.

• Reduce (or eliminate) fertilizer use on shoreline lawns. Any runoff with fertilizer stimulates aquatic plant growth.

• Clean up after your pets and don’t feed or encourage ducks and geese. This will reduce the amount of runoff containing nutrients and fecal matter, potentially with E. coli.

Shoreline being naturalized

• Make sure your well is properly dug or drilled and maintained.

• Have a professional legally decommission unused wells. Old wells can provide a path for contamination to enter your groundwater supply and, often becoming hidden over time, can be a safety and liability concern.

• Maintain your septic system to achieve optimum efficiency and to prevent leakage of nutrients and E. coli.

• Use phosphate free soaps and detergents. Phosphate is a nutrient that encourages aquatic plant growth.

• Take hazardous wastes to a hazardous waste disposal facility. Contact your local municipality for locations near you.

• Control invasive plants and shrubs such as buckthorn, dog strangling vine and garlic mustard to maintain species diversity.

Dog-strangling vine chokes out native plants

• Set aside areas for reforestation. Forests filter water, prevent erosion and play a role in re-charging aquifers.

• Encourage vegetated buffers along fence rows as corridors for wildlife to move from area to area.

• Manage your woodlot by selective harvesting to promote a healthy, productive woodlot.

• On the farm, practice nutrient management planning and fence livestock out of watercourses to prevent nutrient runoff.

• Take advantage of the financial assistance, programs and information services offered by the organizations listed below.

FINANCIAL INCENTIVES AND INFORMATION SERVICES
Organization	Program	Services (see legend below)
Kawartha Conservation 705-328-2271	Shoreline Naturalization	$, IN, SW, WL, VL
	Scugog WATER Fund	$, IN, GW, SW, AG
	Kawartha Waterwatch	IN, SW, VL
	Ontario Drinking Water Stewardship	$, IN, GW, SW
	Blue Canoe	IN, GW, SW, WL, AG
Trent-Severn Waterway 705-750-4900	Waterway Wildlife	IN, SW, WL
Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association 705-374-4975	Environmental Farm Plan (EFP)	$, IN, AG, FR, SW, GW
Well Wise 905-983-9911	Well Aware	IN, GW
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit, 705-324-3569 Durham Region Health Department, 905-985-4889	Water testing, Septic system information	IN, SW, GW
Ducks Unlimited Canada, 1-800-665-DUCK (3825)	Ontario Wetland Care	$, IN, WL, VL
Ministry of Natural Resources 1-800-667-1940	Conservation Lands Tax Incentive Program (CLTIP)	$, IN, FR, WL
	Community Fisheries/Wildlife Improvement Program (CFWIP)	$, IN
Stewardship Councils City of Kawartha Lakes, 705-755-3362 Durham Region, 905-713-6048	Numerous stewardship programs and services	$, IN, FR, AG, WL, GW, SW, WL, VL
Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters 705-748-6324	Community Stream Stewards (CSSP), Invasive Species	IN, VL, WL, SW, AG
Ontario Forestry Association, 1-800-387-0790	Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program (MFTIP)	$, IN, FR
Ontario Woodlot Association, 1-888-791-1103	Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program (MFTIP)	$, IN, FR
Gamiing Centre for Sustainable Lakeshore Living 705-799-7083	Shoreline management services	IN, SW, VL

 

LEGEND
Stewardship Areas		Service Areas
SW	Surface water	$	Financial incentives/grants
GW	Groundwater	IN	Information
AG	Agriculture	VL	Volunteer opportunities
FR	Forestry/Horticulture
WL	Wildlife