The Rondeau Bay watershed in Chatham-Kent may only be 123 square kilometres, but it is one of the biggest of its kind: a coastal wetland on the north shore of Lake Erie whose hydrologic systems (natural surface and ground water flows) are still intact.
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| Identifying invasive Phragmites - Photo: Dr. J.M. Gilbert |
That’s why a partnership of conservation and stewardship organizations, three levels of government agencies, plus local farmers and other landowners have undertaken the Rondeau Bay Wetland Rehabilitation Project.
“The problem is, water quality is suffering,” says Brian Locke, Manager of the Ministry’s Lake Erie Management Unit (based in London). “Farms are pressing up against the bay area, eating away at the protective buffer zone of water-filtering vegetation. That has allowed a more concentrated in-flow of farm fertilizer nutrients, soil and other sediments to increasingly pollute the bay.”
The partnership team has drafted plans for projects at 24 sites in the bay area, 10 of which have been completed. The projects have rehabilitated 4.8 hectares (12 acres) of wetland habitat and 30 hectares (75 acres) of riverine and upland habitat.
Crews create or restore coastal wetlands, ponds, riparian areas and connecting channels on privately-owned sites, which are then protected under a 15-year voluntary agreement with landowners. Each project includes the construction of two-part ponds. A settling pond, which can be cleaned periodically, helps remove sediments. In the adjacent finishing area, nutrients are transformed by microbes or reduced through uptake by aquatic vegetation.
These sediment and nutrient reduction systems range from .2 hectares (.5 acres) to .5 hectares (1.3 acres). To make them more effective, they are being integrated into existing wetland and riparian habitats. Most of the time, farmers are retiring a portion of useful farmland nearby to allow for bigger ponds or to add vegetative buffers. At each site, crews are also working to control the growth of common reed (Phragmites australis), an invasive plant that releases Gallic acid, which converts to mesoxalic acid, two toxins harmful to other plants.
The 10-year plan to restore the ecological integrity of Rondeau Bay includes three other, complementary components:
- Working closely with farmers to implement best management practices. Four projects have to date created grassed waterways and buffer strips and installed earthen berms, diversion waterways and rocked spillways, and the installation of drainage control structures.
- A community outreach component that has generated public information sessions and an outpouring of fact sheets, newsletters and interpretive signs about species-at-risk.
- An initiative to plant a vegetative “buffer” of native trees, shrubs and grasses to enhance aquatic habitat and water quality, which the Ministry’s Aylmer District is now implementing in one sub-watershed of Rondeau Bay.
Click here to view a map of the project area
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Rondeau Bay, Past and Future
• The Rondeau Bay watershed, in the heart of Carolinian Canada, is an important spawning and nursery area for bass and pike; a major stopover for migratory birds; and a refuge for a number of rare and threatened Great Lakes fish and wildlife species.
• As the watershed’s vegetative buffer zone has disappeared, nutrients from runoff have increased, resulting in too much aquatic plant growth and more frequent algae blooms in the bay. This has made the water unpleasant for swimming and other recreational activities. In addition, increased runoff has meant more sediment, affecting fish habitat. by smothering spawning areas with silt and mud.
• Will the Rondeau Wetland Rehabilitation Project work? The project partners are confident that measurable changes will occur in the next seven years.
• Nutrient modelling/tracking is now being conducted in one tributary of the Rondeau Bay watershed where best management practices have been implemented. In the two-pond systems, project partners during the next five years will be looking for signs of reduction in the amount of nutrients and sediments leaving the ponds.
• Throughout the watershed, they will also be monitoring water temperatures, dissolved oxygen levels, and sedimentation; recording the abundance and variety of plant, fish, marsh bird and amphibian species; and noting any changes in the presence of Phragmites australis.
Partners
- Ducks Unlimited Canada
- Environment Canada
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- Friends of Rondeau
- Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority
- Municipality of Chatham-Kent
- Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
- Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
- Ontario Ministry of the Environment
- Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association
- Private landowners/farmers
- Stewardship-Kent (Ontario Stewardship Council)
For more information, contact:
- Brian Locke, Manager, Lake Erie Management Unit, Ministry of Natural Resources, London (519) 873-4614
- Khahy Ho, Lake Erie COA Basin Coordinator, Lake Erie Management Unit, Ministry of Natural Resources, London (519) 873-4647