For Immediate Release
March 23, 2022
Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority releases their 2023 Watershed Report Card
Chatham, ON– On Wednesday, March 22, 2023, World Water Day, the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority (LTVCA) released their 2023 Watershed Report Card. The watershed report card, facilitated through Conservation Ontario, is produced every five years. The importance of collecting, analyzing and then communicating local watershed information is critical for informing a wide variety of stakeholders from residents to government on the conditions of water resources and forest conditions where they live. It helps to keep all of us accountable and it has the potential to drive action to happen on the ground across the province. We need tools such as the conservation authority watershed report cards to help us track the impacts of growing challenges such as rapid urbanization and climate change which create significant stressors on our natural resources throughout Ontario’s watersheds.
Conservation authorities develop and deliver a wide variety of nature-based climate solutions. They work with many government and non-government partners, including private landowners to plant trees, improve water quality, rehabilitate, and restore habitats as well as plan and implement a wide range of agricultural beneficial practices, all of which helps to build local watershed resilience.
This also directly benefits the health of Ontarians by protecting safe drinking water sources and – through conservation areas – providing a mosaic of greenspaces across the province used extensively by visitors and residents of Ontario for their mental and physical benefit. Watershed report cards are an important part of this work. In addition to keeping a wide variety of stakeholders informed on local conditions and identifying issues they can help conservation authorities and others to target actions where they are needed.
Conservation authority watershed report cards provide us with a picture of the health of watersheds in terms of three resource categories: surface water quality, forest conditions, groundwater quality and wetland cover . These four were chosen because of the availability of data across most CAs and their linkages to CA business practices. Each of the resource categories is based on a set of environmental indicators that represents the condition of that category. The original guidelines were developed with input from conservation authorities and other federal/provincial agencies.
The LTVCA’s 2023 Watershed Report Card showed an overall grade of “D” in surface water quality, an overall “D” grade in forest conditions, an overall “B” grade in ground water quality, and an overall grade of “F” in wetlands. This data demonstrates that the LTVCA, local government and its citizens must work together to maintain and improve the quality of natural environment. The document includes the steps the LTVCA is taking to help improve that score, what local governments can do to support these efforts, and ways in which the community can take an active role in the maintenance of our watershed.
We encourage our community to read and share the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority’s Watershed Report Card. Your supports helps the LTVCA raise awareness about the condition of our watershed and what steps we all can take to improve the health of the space in which we live, work, and play.
The LTVCA’s 2023 Watershed Report Card can be viewed here.
For Further Information Contact:
Mark Peacock
CAO / Secretary-Treasurer
Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority
519-354-7310 x 224
[email protected]
www.ltvca.ca