Area residents are invited to join Credit Valley Conservation (CVC), Trout Unlimited Canada and Ontario Streams for the annual Check Your Watershed Day on July 23, from 1 to 4pm.
Citizen science volunteers are needed to investigate the health of local streams in the watershed.
Check Your Watershed Day is an annual opportunity for people interested in the environment to gain hands-on experience and participate in citizen science research. Volunteers assess water temperatures and culverts at road crossings throughout the upper watershed.
“The data collected during this event is valuable to our work in the watershed,” said Mike Puddister, CVC deputy CAO and director of watershed transformation.
“It gives us a better understanding of what’s happening in our local watercourses and where we need to direct efforts to protect and manage our valuable natural resources.”
Since joining the program in 2011, CVC has conducted more than 440 visits at 300 sites. Data collected helps prioritize restoration projects. It identifies watercourses and areas where high water temperatures may impact coldwater fish communities. It provides trend-over-time data on water temperature changes or flows.
Pre-registration is required. Volunteers will meet at Terra Cotta Conservation Area at 12:45pm to receive training and pick up equipment.
Participants will be put into Stream Teams of two to four people. Volunteers must have good mobility. Participants will be asked to wear rubber boots or hip waders. Some access points to stream monitoring sites may be steep or unstable.
Stream Teams will go to assigned sites in Caledon, Erin and Halton Hills. Certificates will be awarded to volunteers at the end of the event.
Participants must be 18 or older, unless accompanied by a parent. Each volunteer group will require a car to access their assigned sites, as well as a digital camera and a cell phone. For information, visit http://www.creditvalleyca.ca/event/check-your-watershed-day-5/.
