Fifteen landowners along Deer and Pearl Creeks will soon see the results of their efforts to create attractive, high quality stream habitat for coldwater fish species in the Saugeen River watershed.
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| Shrubs such as highbush cranberry are planted to stabilize creek banks Photo: P. Allen Woodliffe |
With encouragement and technical support from partners, the landowners blocked off marginal or eroding farmland and established riparian forest buffers along tributaries that feed the Saugeen River, the longest river in Ontario.
To date, conservation partners and community volunteers have planted more than 2,000 trees, retired 18 hectares of marginal farmland, and installed more than 7,000 metres of cattle exclusion fencing to protect over 15 hectares of floodplain throughout the Saugeen River watershed.
Deer and Pearl Creeks provide spawning and nursery habitats for brook trout and other coldwater fish species. Restoring stream bank vegetation cuts down on eroded soil sediments and bacterial loading and encourages more natural stream channels, improved flow and cooler water temperatures.
In some areas where cattle no longer have access to water, crews have installed alternative drinking sources – water troughs or tanks, located away from the creeks.
Evergreen trees planted along the creeks’ banks will attract wildlife and help to buffer the flow of nutrients and sediments leaching from nearby agricultural lands. Landowners will continue to help with the projects, keeping the cattle exclusion fencing in good repair and replacing any dead tree seedlings.
Click here to view a map of the project area
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Riparian Forest Buffers
• “Riparian” (the Latin word ripa means “bank”) means “stream bank.” Riparian vegetation—the forests and shrubs lining waterways—has disappeared from many Ontario streams and rivers, causing serious problems.
• This simple green buffer helps shade a stream, and partially protects it from the impact of adjacent land uses. It plays a key role in improving water quality in associated streams, river, and lakes, and provides habitat for aquatic species of fish and wildlife.
• When the buffer is gone, stream temperatures rise and coldwater fish species, such as trout, can no longer survive. Wildlife species that once flourished in sheltering streambank forests disappear. With no root systems to bind their soil or slow runoff, streambanks begin to erode. Soil sediment and chemicals used on nearby fields – or runoff from urban streets – muddy and pollute the creeks. With protective vegetation gone, livestock may trample streambeds, further polluting the water and destroying fish habitat.
• Replanting a stream’s protective “walls” restores a cooling and purifying system that reduces soil erosion, improves water quality and results in healthier, more productive streams, rivers and watersheds.
Project Partners:
- Bruce Resource Stewardship Network
- Private landowners
- Ontario Federation of Agriculture
- Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority
For more information, contact:
- Craig Todd, Stewardship Coordinator, Bruce Resource Stewardship Network, Ministry of Natural Resources, Owen Sound (519) 371-8465
- Andy McKee, Lake Huron COA Basin Coordinator, Upper Great Lakes Management Unit – Lake Huron, Ministry of Natural Resources, Owen Sound (519) 371-5449