What do healthy horses and healthy watersheds have in common? More than one might think.
One way to better understand that environment, made up of land and water resources, is to divide it into geographical units called watersheds.
A watershed is an area of land upon which melting snow and rainwater drain into a common body of water like a creek, pond, or river. Homes, farms, forests, communities are all an integral part of any given watershed. What happens on the land associated with them can have a negative or positive effect on the health of the environment.
Positive stewardship activities can be taken to improve land management practices. These could involve fencing off a local water course, providing alternative drinking water sources for livestock, employing good pasture management practices, storing manure properly at a safe distance from wells and creeks, and finally, planting native trees along waterways and pastures to filter, recycle, and trap nutrients before they enter the water.
The benefits to a horse, as well as to everyone in the watershed, are significant.
Stewardship projects typically require a small financial investment on the part of the landowner. Additional or matching funding and free technical expertise are available from a variety of local stewardship programs including Conservation Authorities.
Conservation Authorities are in the business of managing watersheds and may offer financial incentives to horse owners to encourage and support the implementation of stewardship projects on private land. Check the provincial map and contact listing on the Conservation Ontario website at www.Conservation-Ontario.on.ca.
Patricia Lowe is with the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority
