Shorelines:

for your Local

Watershed
October 2014

"Shorelines": Good communication is key to keeping our watershed healthy. Get informed and share your thoughts.

What's on this winter? Enjoying nature's gifts day and night. Learning about Climate Change. Algae blooms, what you should know. Sharing non-traditional stormwater management ideas.

What's On

Share Your Autumn Colours

Take a walk at one of our conservation areas and post the photos on our Facebook page. We love to see and hear about people enjoying these wonderful public lands.

Night Walk

Embrace the short winter days and discover the wonders that darkness brings in nature. Celebrate the night with MVCA at its 3rd annual Night Walk on Sat. Nov.15 at the Mill of Kintail Conservation Area from 6-8 p.m. An admission fee of $5 per family will help with the cost of our new play area.

Join MVCA education coordinator, Sarah O'Grady and our night specialists: astronomers, wildlife experts and biologists as they help us discover nature after dark. You never know what you'll see, hear or ...smell.

MVCA biologist Kelly Stiles challenges visitors to "Guess that Smell."

Landowners

Blue-Green Algae Blooms

Many different species of algae (plant-like organisms) naturally inhabit waterways. An over-abundance of sun, warmth, and nutrients all of which promote algae growth can result in a bloom. When individual algae within the bloom start to die off, the release of chemicals from within their cells can cause toxic conditions in the water. The most harmful come from blue-green algae.

Residents should educate themselves about blue-green algae. Read fact sheets from the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) and the Lanark Leeds and Grenville Health Unit here.

If you spot a potential algae bloom, contact the MOECC Spill Action Hotline 1-800-268-6060.

Reporting of blooms to MVCA staff helps us track bloom events and recurrences so we can help improve water quality through stewardship and nutrient management. Staff are available to answer your algae questions.You can report an unusual algal growth to MVCA by:

1.Phone; 613.253.0006

2.Email: kstiles@mvc.on.ca

3.Online: Citizen Water Watch

Get Involved

Monitoring Results

We had another successful season of monitoring City of Ottawa Streams. Thanks to all our volunteers. Check out photos of our activities on Tumblr and Facebook.

Read the MVCA summary reports of monitoring efforts on Poole and Carp Creeks.

Looking for Winter Monitors

Winter snow and rain fall data is important information for water management as precipitation events vary across the vast watershed. MVCA provides gauges and training for volunteers to measure accumulations in their own backyards. Data can be shared online using the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network or by reporting directly to MVCA. Contact Alyson Symon for details.

This information is used to supplement MVCA data to help make informed water management decisions.

Our monitoring programs and climate change studies

use it to track changes and identify areas of concern on our lakes and rivers.

Don't miss Lake Links on October 25 in Perth to learn about important lake based issues and meet others passionate about our water.


Education Teaching Climate Change Identifying and understanding the local effects of climate change and communicating that to students can be a challenge. Sarah O'Grady, our Education Coordinator is creating engaging climate change based programming for school aged programs from K-12. We're learning from experts, notably Tim Grant of Green Teacher at the North American Association for Environmental Education Conference, and our own climate change experts to help our watershed schools provide quality climate change education while making local connections. We're also working with the Back to Nature Network to help teachers teach any subject in an outdoor setting. We're passionate about getting students back to nature and offering an alternative to classroom learning. Learn outdoors at the Mill of Kintail Conservation Area or right outside your classroom, wherever you may be. Contact Sarah to help you incorporate Climate Change education and outdoor learning into your day.	Town Hall Low Impact Development Low Impact Development (LID) is a stormwater management approach that treats, infiltrates, filters and retains runoff at the source. LID is an innovative and effective alternative to traditional methods of stormwater management. This fall, MVCA gathered local conservation authority staff, municipal planners and engineers, consultants and designers of stormwater management facilities to learn from LID experts who have both implemented and monitored the effects of LID solutions in highly urbanized areas. Here's what the Credit Valley Conservation Authority is accomplishing with LIDs in the Greater Toronto Area. Ontario Municipal Elections Your municipality is represented on the MVCA Board of Directors by both elected officials and appointed members from each municipality in the watershed. Find your MVCA representative.	Conservation Climate Change Studies A ground-breaking scientific report assessing how rivers, lakes and wetlands in the Mississippi and Rideau watersheds may be affected by climate change has been completed by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) and the Mississippi and Rideau Valley Conservation Authorities (MVCA and RVCA). Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for Aquatic Ecosystems in the Mississippi and Rideau Conservation Authority Watersheds is the first of a series of studies which will become the foundation for the Mississippi-Rideau Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. The development of this strategy highlights a three year cooperative project based on the Mississippi-Rideau Watershed Region. Read more... For more information about the work MVCA has done to adapt to a changing climate, contact Jackie Oblak, Climate Change Adaptation Project Coordinator.

Stay Connected

10970 Highway 7, Carleton Place, ON K7C 3P1

P. 613.253.0006 F. 613.253.0122

info@mvc.on.ca mvc.on.ca