Good Water Stewardship in Water-Rich Communities
The diversity of situations in which communities in North America find themselves—especially those with seemingly limitless water resources—might appear to make the issue of stewardship a moot point. But even places with apparently abundant resources have been taking another look at ways to keep water resources in place as well as preserve them in the future.
The Spokane Valley—Rathdrum Prairie (SVRP) aquifer represents the sole source of drinking water for over 400,000 residents in Spokane County, WA, and Kootenai County, ID, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS) Web site. This aquifer has always been an abundant source of water for the region. But Spokane, the Spokane Valley, and Liberty Lake, WA, and Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls, ID, now include some of the area’s largest and fastest-growing communities.
Recent projected growth has raised concerns about potential future impacts on water availability and water quality in the SVRP aquifer, the Spokane River, and the Little Spokane River. There are water resource concerns about the growing demands on groundwater and declining groundwater levels, low stream flow in reaches of the Spokane and Little Spokane rivers, and water-quality problems associated with changing land-use activities. Management of the SVRP aquifer system is complicated by the interstate, multijurisdictional nature of the system.
The SVRP aquifer, as described by the USGS, is composed of unconsolidated coarse-grained sand, gravel, cobbles, and boulders deposited by a series of catastrophic glacial outburst floods. In one event a break in an ice dam on huge prehistoric “Lake Missoula” sent more water downstream at once than is thought to have ever flowed on the earth’s surface.
The material deposited in this high-energy depositional environment is coarser-grained than is typical for most basin-fill deposits, resulting in one of the most productive aquifers in the world. Water volume in the entire SVRP aquifer is estimated to be about 10 trillion gallons with an average of about 250 million to 650 million gallons per day at the Idaho–Washington border.
In 1998 and 1999 Washington’s legislature passed the Watershed Planning Act. Local governments could voluntarily enter into a planning process to look at water quantity—which was required—as well as water quality, habitat, and in-stream flows. The City of Spokane was a part of that, according to Keith Holliday, watershed lead with the ecology department for Washington state.
“Last year we completed a water conservation plan for the entire city,” says Holliday. “Spokane’s stewardship picks up on those recommendations and is moving forward. The Spokane watershed was one of the first to voluntarily enter the process. It took them six years to reach the point where they had a document recording their recommendations.”
The reason for the relatively long period of time involved with this process is that it involved three phases of development. The first stage was organizing a community-based group to help work through all the issues with the watershed. The second phase involved a technical assessment on what is actually going on the watershed, specifically a water balance: the water that comes into the watershed, the water that leaves the watershed, and the water being used both legally and illegally. Though the City of Spokane did not choose to study water quality and fish habitat, it did include a number of in-stream flow studies in its plan.
“During this phase of the plan there was community-based group consensus-type decision-making going on; but they were all at different levels of understanding of what was actually occurring in their watershed,” says Holliday. “Therefore it took them at least a year to really digest all the information developed during this phase and get them all on the same level so they could talk to each other and discuss the facts.”
The third phase was the actual plan development stage when all issues were identified and recommendations were made for each issue. “It was at this point that Spokane’s water stewardship program came about,” says Holliday. “Some four recommendations for water conservation were made and their program fits in nicely with all four of those. There were some comments that the program was not aggressive enough, but they really are taking baby steps with this; nothing like this had ever been done before in Spokane.
“It will take a lot to get the community and most of the water users to understand that there really is an issue. Nine months out of the year—October to June—water looks very plentiful; but for three months of the year it’s quite scarce.”
Spokane’s aquifer is massive and perhaps one of the most unique in the world, according to Holliday. This is especially the case because of the way the water moves. Water has been recorded to have moved through this aquifer at the unheard-of rate of 2 miles per day.
“Our commonly held practices with our irrigation have been to keep everything very green,” says Holliday. “But what we end up having is that our consumption rates increase at the worst possible time. We hold the idea of green being the color you must have at that time of the year very dear to us so there is a lot of education that has to be done; this is a time of transition here.
“If you talk to a lot of folks on the street they wouldn’t necessarily see that there’s a problem. But those who are in tune with the Spokane River are very concerned about it because the river is directly interacting with the aquifer, and the more water that we draw from the aquifer, the more the river takes a hit.”
Because the region does not have declining aquifer levels, many perceive that the Spokane area does not have a problem with its water use, according to Holliday. But what is not understood is that on the river—one of the community’s best resources—most of the water purveyors are not treating this resource well at all.
During the course of some discussions, the idea arose regarding how many communities are looking at water reuse and reclamation in which water is treated to an acceptable level and then re-injected into the aquifer. “But even if that were done it would actually degrade the aquifer,” says Holliday.
“The US Geological Survey has been doing studies on this aquifer since back in the 1960s and are now in a partnership with Idaho to do another study in which geophysics will be used to get a better idea of the extent of its boundaries. The cost to treat reclaimed water to the level of this unique aquifer is still quite prohibitive; that’s how superior the water from this aquifer remains to this day.
“Eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle’s fascinating geology has also greatly affected the hydrology of this whole region; there are areas where the climate changes almost directly over the river. On the western side of the river there will be lower precipitation than on the eastern side. There are also vast areas of that state with less than 6 inches of annual rainfall; it all makes water management interesting,” says Holliday.
Holliday feels that Spokane’s biggest challenge on the horizon is finding the funding to implement its watershed plan. “They are an example of one recommendation, but this group as a whole has some 100 recommendations to deal with,” says Holliday. “In order to keep the whole watershed healthy they are going to have to find funding or the city and the county will have to take action. The stewardship program is simply a good example of how the city is starting to take responsibility for water conservation.”
Chelsea Woods, Spokane’s water stewardship coordinator, is also a Gonzaga University student intern. Woods witnessed the willingness of city planners involved in advocating and promoting the program. “The amazing thing is prior to this there were no droughts or events to cause such a course of action,” says Woods. “It was: ‘This is something we simply must do for the longevity of our city.’
“Our office windows look out directly over the falls of the Spokane River,” says Woods. “One day as Mayor Hession looked out the window, he commented that we have to do everything possible to preserve this. He has always been onboard with finding a way to preserve our water resources; this has always been his vision, since before he held the office of mayor.
“We are in a situation where all the other local water purveyors in the region using the aquifer can see our program and decide they’ve got to do something like ours. Our hope is that by us being so far ahead, people in other areas will be able to see that there’s already a program created that can be workable.”
According to Woods, Spokane residents use approximately twice per capita what they need to use, compared to most places in the country. For decades, a major selling point for Spokane, WA, was its unlimited water resources. Newcomers were encouraged to come to the area for both its cheap water and because, they were told, that water would never end. Water conservation has never been something residents in the area were either made aware of or called upon to do.
But drought was declared by Washington’s governor in 2005. There weren’t any guidelines put forth, according to Woods. “It was interesting to see how people responded,” says Woods. “But when it came down to it there was not much for anyone to do. As a whole the state has plenty of water. The Seattle area is especially environmentally aware.
“Because people in the Spokane area are more conservative and traditional, we had no choice but to start the program as early as we did; it takes a certain time period to get people used to the lifestyle change portion of the decision-making process. What is second nature in Seattle, turning the faucet off while brushing your teeth, is something people in Spokane had to be made aware of.”
The stewardship program is now dedicated through 2017 with both the water and wastewater departments working in conjunction to achieve the goals. The projection puts summer use at a 20% reduction.
“Both the wastewater and environmental departments here in the city have had a lot to do with pushing for more stringent standards,” says Woods. “People typically very traditional in their approach to things have become very creative in all this.”
Currently, Spokane’s Water Stewardship Program is working on placing the informational part of its campaign before the public. In the summer months, water users will be continually reminded that 30 minutes of lawn watering equals 300 gallons of water. “People in the Spokane area have never really been taught what their careless water use can do overall or the damage it can do in the long run; people in Seattle have been receiving this conservation message a long time and it is a part of the lifestyle change portion of their habits whereas for those in Spokane this is the first time they’ve had such a message.
“It’s an interesting prospective to say to people: ‘We are hoping this is something you are going to take and apply to your life,’ and we don’t look like the bad guys in forcing people to do this,” says Woods. “We’ve even restructured our rate tier to be fairer to those who are doing their part to conserve. Now, part of what our program does is that there had to be a regulatory component and that component was: ‘Hey, folks, if we want this to mean anything we need to not make it cheaper if you use more water.’
“We’ve swapped over to a conservationist rate structure. Also, one councilwoman recently mentioned there’s a possibility for another change in our rate structure featuring an increase in the cost of water; our unit cost for our water in general is so miniscule—especially since our water is so pure and absolutely delicious. It’s amazing how good it tastes.”
The city takes its parks very seriously, according to Woods, and has been working with the Parks Department in its strategic internal planning for the stewardship program. They are looking into transforming all grassy highways into water-smart landscaping. Literature has been distributed to all city employees to raise awareness of the program as well as gain voluntary support. Also under discussion at the city level is feasibility of doing a pilot project on one of its parks for installing soil-sensor irrigation.
Along with their July water bills, city residents will be receiving brochures on the water stewardship program. An advertising campaign is also taking place in all area movie theaters. The ad runs three times before each movie.
“In the ad we show a toilet being flushed while in the background viewers are informed that each flush uses 7 gallons,” says Woods. “Next we show a shower running while the announcer reminds us that a five-minute shower uses 40 gallons of water. Another visual is a lawn sprinkler and the voice saying 30 minutes of watering uses 300 gallons. At the close the message is: ‘Every drop counts.’”
At all the city’s retrofit campaign public outreach events, kits are brought along for both indoor and outdoor retrofits. The indoor kits include showerhead and faucet aerators, while the outdoor kits contain hose leak testers, state-of-the-art nozzles, and connector pieces.
In the course of informing customers of any increase in water consumption over their previous year’s water use, Woods would also like to inform them that a free home audit is available. Such an audit will show city water users areas where they can cut back on their water consumption. The city would fund the audits. Instead of the term “zero-scape” in landscaping, Spokane water planners would like to start using the expression “water-smart.”
“We have a master-gardener’s program here,” says Woods. “We’ll offer classes on how to landscape attractively with native plants. Public outreach includes an ‘Extreme Garden Makeover’ show on local network television. Next year we may have a ‘water-smart’ edition of that as well.”
The city is sponsoring school essay and poster contests. Also, a partnership with Spokane Public Schools will enable grant writing for retrofitting different schools. “Water-efficient plumbing in the schools should help us get our foot in the door—hopefully—in getting our education use program in,” says Woods.
“Though we’ve gotten many of our ideas by studying what’s worked in other communities, much of what we’ve done has been through brainstorming, meeting with local residents, and asking for ideas.”
Ontario Community Sees a Need, Despite Abundant Water
In central Ontario an abundance of lakes and water creates a summertime population explosion. But water stewardship is still an important issue. Though most of southern Ontario is covered by water conservation authorities, towns in the central districts are not. The district municipality of Muskoka and the non-governmental authority, the Muskoka Heritage Foundation, came together and developed the Muskoka Watershed Council. This is a voluntary council made up of 30 people who have a stake in the watershed.
Council representation includes political representation from various towns and townships; representation from industries; and representatives from resorts, golf courses, and marinas. The main focus of the council is water stewardship. It also develops position papers on what it feels are issues affecting the watershed. The local municipalities are then encouraged to adopt some of the suggested practices in preserving the watershed.
The council also tries to take a watershed-wide view and not get involved with site-specific issues, instead taking an overall view. Issues it’s taken positions on include non-essential use of pesticides, aggregate use in the area, the living legacy preservation program, and road salt usage in the area.
“We’ve tried to be thorough and do a lot of research,” says Rebecca Crockford, watershed planning technician for both the Watershed Council and the District of Muskoka. “Once we’ve prepared a position, we try to use that to educate the general community with newspaper articles, and presentations to the council to influence them to adopt better practices as they assemble their official plans. We’ve put out a report card to let people know how we’ve done and to identify issues that are on the downward trend and then try to develop positions.”
Though the council has only been around since 2001, it has been busy working to raise awareness of issues not on everyone’s radar screens. “Some things had fallen through the cracks and we wanted to have an inclusive group to look at issues and to bring all sorts of perspectives to the table when addressing issues so they could be well rounded. We try to look at not just the environmental issues but the economy and things involving all residents as well—all the factors that go into having a healthy sustainable watershed.”
Despite drought not being an issue in this place of abundant lakes and water sources—Muskoka also borders the Great Lakes area of Georgian Bay—lower water in water bodies and such things as the US Army Corps of Engineers wanting to dredge the river exiting Lake Huron, further lowering water levels, still means water stewardship is an important issue.
“Any little thing that you do on land, because we have so much surface water, will almost immediately have an impact on area water,” says Crockford. “You get the surface-water resource itself driving you to be careful in what you do.”
The Nashua River Watershed Association
The Nashua River Watershed Association was formed in 1969 at a time when the river had major pollution problems, according to Elizabeth Ainsley Campbell, executive director of this Massachusetts association. Since then its focus has been on improving and maintaining the quality of the Nashua River. “We are also interested in preserving the quantity as well as the quality of water from this river and its watershed,” says Ainsley Campbell. “We recognize that in order to protect water resources, it’s also important to protect priority land parcels. We had enough focus, even in the early years of the association, to establish a greenway along the river; the association remains committed to looking into all other areas that are important as well and working in partnership to protect these parcels.”
The association has a strong educational component, educating both youth and adults. Youth encounter the Nashua River firsthand in outdoor programs while others learn about it in the classroom. Family programs, after-school programs, and a whole range of activities for adults highlight the water conservation message. “Our education outreach covers anything from a general interest program about owls to a technical program on how to craft an improved bylaw on soil erosion,” says Ainsley Campbell. “All in all we educate 11,000 adults and children each year through our programs.”
A voluntary water sampling program has been the centerpiece of the association’s activities for 14 years. This is mostly quantitative data, but that data assembly dovetails with studies being conducted by the Massachusetts River Ways Department on one of its programs to check on stream flows.
Advertisement
One of the association’s other main projects, Protecting Today’s Water for Tomorrow, focuses on sub-basins in the area. It’s a targeted watershed-initiative, grant-funded program from the USEPA, done in partnership with Beaver Brook Association, New England Forestry Commission, and the Trust for Public Land. “This major, multiyear program protects the priority lands that protect water resources in our area,” says Ainsley Campbell.
“The focus here is on drinking water as well as the surface water or the river. Again, this includes stewardship, education, forestry, exploring the possibility of forest cooperatives, forester training, monitoring—and a lot of work with land donors. When it comes to land parcels, we’ve found that keeping them forested is especially good protection.”
January-February 2007
Good Water Stewardship in Water-Rich Communities
The diversity of situations in which communities in North America find themselves—especially those with seemingly limitless water resources—might appear to make the issue of stewardship a moot point. But even places with apparently abundant resources have been taking another look at ways to keep water resources in place as well as preserve them in the future.
The Spokane Valley—Rathdrum Prairie (SVRP) aquifer represents the sole source of drinking water for over 400,000 residents in Spokane County, WA, and Kootenai County, ID, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS) Web site. This aquifer has always been an abundant source of water for the region. But Spokane, the Spokane Valley, and Liberty Lake, WA, and Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls, ID, now include some of the area’s largest and fastest-growing communities.
Recent projected growth has raised concerns about potential future impacts on water availability and water quality in the SVRP aquifer, the Spokane River, and the Little Spokane River. There are water resource concerns about the growing demands on groundwater and declining groundwater levels, low stream flow in reaches of the Spokane and Little Spokane rivers, and water-quality problems associated with changing land-use activities. Management of the SVRP aquifer system is complicated by the interstate, multijurisdictional nature of the system.
The SVRP aquifer, as described by the USGS, is composed of unconsolidated coarse-grained sand, gravel, cobbles, and boulders deposited by a series of catastrophic glacial outburst floods. In one event a break in an ice dam on huge prehistoric “Lake Missoula” sent more water downstream at once than is thought to have ever flowed on the earth’s surface.
The material deposited in this high-energy depositional environment is coarser-grained than is typical for most basin-fill deposits, resulting in one of the most productive aquifers in the world. Water volume in the entire SVRP aquifer is estimated to be about 10 trillion gallons with an average of about 250 million to 650 million gallons per day at the Idaho–Washington border.
In 1998 and 1999 Washington’s legislature passed the Watershed Planning Act. Local governments could voluntarily enter into a planning process to look at water quantity—which was required—as well as water quality, habitat, and in-stream flows. The City of Spokane was a part of that, according to Keith Holliday, watershed lead with the ecology department for Washington state.
“Last year we completed a water conservation plan for the entire city,” says Holliday. “Spokane’s stewardship picks up on those recommendations and is moving forward. The Spokane watershed was one of the first to voluntarily enter the process. It took them six years to reach the point where they had a document recording their recommendations.”
The reason for the relatively long period of time involved with this process is that it involved three phases of development. The first stage was organizing a community-based group to help work through all the issues with the watershed. The second phase involved a technical assessment on what is actually going on the watershed, specifically a water balance: the water that comes into the watershed, the water that leaves the watershed, and the water being used both legally and illegally. Though the City of Spokane did not choose to study water quality and fish habitat, it did include a number of in-stream flow studies in its plan.
“During this phase of the plan there was community-based group consensus-type decision-making going on; but they were all at different levels of understanding of what was actually occurring in their watershed,” says Holliday. “Therefore it took them at least a year to really digest all the information developed during this phase and get them all on the same level so they could talk to each other and discuss the facts.”
The third phase was the actual plan development stage when all issues were identified and recommendations were made for each issue. “It was at this point that Spokane’s water stewardship program came about,” says Holliday. “Some four recommendations for water conservation were made and their program fits in nicely with all four of those. There were some comments that the program was not aggressive enough, but they really are taking baby steps with this; nothing like this had ever been done before in Spokane.
“It will take a lot to get the community and most of the water users to understand that there really is an issue. Nine months out of the year—October to June—water looks very plentiful; but for three months of the year it’s quite scarce.”
Spokane’s aquifer is massive and perhaps one of the most unique in the world, according to Holliday. This is especially the case because of the way the water moves. Water has been recorded to have moved through this aquifer at the unheard-of rate of 2 miles per day.
“Our commonly held practices with our irrigation have been to keep everything very green,” says Holliday. “But what we end up having is that our consumption rates increase at the worst possible time. We hold the idea of green being the color you must have at that time of the year very dear to us so there is a lot of education that has to be done; this is a time of transition here.
“If you talk to a lot of folks on the street they wouldn’t necessarily see that there’s a problem. But those who are in tune with the Spokane River are very concerned about it because the river is directly interacting with the aquifer, and the more water that we draw from the aquifer, the more the river takes a hit.”
Because the region does not have declining aquifer levels, many perceive that the Spokane area does not have a problem with its water use, according to Holliday. But what is not understood is that on the river—one of the community’s best resources—most of the water purveyors are not treating this resource well at all.
During the course of some discussions, the idea arose regarding how many communities are looking at water reuse and reclamation in which water is treated to an acceptable level and then re-injected into the aquifer. “But even if that were done it would actually degrade the aquifer,” says Holliday.
“The US Geological Survey has been doing studies on this aquifer since back in the 1960s and are now in a partnership with Idaho to do another study in which geophysics will be used to get a better idea of the extent of its boundaries. The cost to treat reclaimed water to the level of this unique aquifer is still quite prohibitive; that’s how superior the water from this aquifer remains to this day.
“Eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle’s fascinating geology has also greatly affected the hydrology of this whole region; there are areas where the climate changes almost directly over the river. On the western side of the river there will be lower precipitation than on the eastern side. There are also vast areas of that state with less than 6 inches of annual rainfall; it all makes water management interesting,” says Holliday.
Holliday feels that Spokane’s biggest challenge on the horizon is finding the funding to implement its watershed plan. “They are an example of one recommendation, but this group as a whole has some 100 recommendations to deal with,” says Holliday. “In order to keep the whole watershed healthy they are going to have to find funding or the city and the county will have to take action. The stewardship program is simply a good example of how the city is starting to take responsibility for water conservation.”
Chelsea Woods, Spokane’s water stewardship coordinator, is also a Gonzaga University student intern. Woods witnessed the willingness of city planners involved in advocating and promoting the program. “The amazing thing is prior to this there were no droughts or events to cause such a course of action,” says Woods. “It was: ‘This is something we simply must do for the longevity of our city.’
“Our office windows look out directly over the falls of the Spokane River,” says Woods. “One day as Mayor Hession looked out the window, he commented that we have to do everything possible to preserve this. He has always been onboard with finding a way to preserve our water resources; this has always been his vision, since before he held the office of mayor.
“We are in a situation where all the other local water purveyors in the region using the aquifer can see our program and decide they’ve got to do something like ours. Our hope is that by us being so far ahead, people in other areas will be able to see that there’s already a program created that can be workable.”
According to Woods, Spokane residents use approximately twice per capita what they need to use, compared to most places in the country. For decades, a major selling point for Spokane, WA, was its unlimited water resources. Newcomers were encouraged to come to the area for both its cheap water and because, they were told, that water would never end. Water conservation has never been something residents in the area were either made aware of or called upon to do.
But drought was declared by Washington’s governor in 2005. There weren’t any guidelines put forth, according to Woods. “It was interesting to see how people responded,” says Woods. “But when it came down to it there was not much for anyone to do. As a whole the state has plenty of water. The Seattle area is especially environmentally aware.
“Because people in the Spokane area are more conservative and traditional, we had no choice but to start the program as early as we did; it takes a certain time period to get people used to the lifestyle change portion of the decision-making process. What is second nature in Seattle, turning the faucet off while brushing your teeth, is something people in Spokane had to be made aware of.”
The stewardship program is now dedicated through 2017 with both the water and wastewater departments working in conjunction to achieve the goals. The projection puts summer use at a 20% reduction.
“Both the wastewater and environmental departments here in the city have had a lot to do with pushing for more stringent standards,” says Woods. “People typically very traditional in their approach to things have become very creative in all this.”
Currently, Spokane’s Water Stewardship Program is working on placing the informational part of its campaign before the public. In the summer months, water users will be continually reminded that 30 minutes of lawn watering equals 300 gallons of water. “People in the Spokane area have never really been taught what their careless water use can do overall or the damage it can do in the long run; people in Seattle have been receiving this conservation message a long time and it is a part of the lifestyle change portion of their habits whereas for those in Spokane this is the first time they’ve had such a message.
“It’s an interesting prospective to say to people: ‘We are hoping this is something you are going to take and apply to your life,’ and we don’t look like the bad guys in forcing people to do this,” says Woods. “We’ve even restructured our rate tier to be fairer to those who are doing their part to conserve. Now, part of what our program does is that there had to be a regulatory component and that component was: ‘Hey, folks, if we want this to mean anything we need to not make it cheaper if you use more water.’
“We’ve swapped over to a conservationist rate structure. Also, one councilwoman recently mentioned there’s a possibility for another change in our rate structure featuring an increase in the cost of water; our unit cost for our water in general is so miniscule—especially since our water is so pure and absolutely delicious. It’s amazing how good it tastes.”
The city takes its parks very seriously, according to Woods, and has been working with the Parks Department in its strategic internal planning for the stewardship program. They are looking into transforming all grassy highways into water-smart landscaping. Literature has been distributed to all city employees to raise awareness of the program as well as gain voluntary support. Also under discussion at the city level is feasibility of doing a pilot project on one of its parks for installing soil-sensor irrigation.
Along with their July water bills, city residents will be receiving brochures on the water stewardship program. An advertising campaign is also taking place in all area movie theaters. The ad runs three times before each movie.
“In the ad we show a toilet being flushed while in the background viewers are informed that each flush uses 7 gallons,” says Woods. “Next we show a shower running while the announcer reminds us that a five-minute shower uses 40 gallons of water. Another visual is a lawn sprinkler and the voice saying 30 minutes of watering uses 300 gallons. At the close the message is: ‘Every drop counts.’”
At all the city’s retrofit campaign public outreach events, kits are brought along for both indoor and outdoor retrofits. The indoor kits include showerhead and faucet aerators, while the outdoor kits contain hose leak testers, state-of-the-art nozzles, and connector pieces.
In the course of informing customers of any increase in water consumption over their previous year’s water use, Woods would also like to inform them that a free home audit is available. Such an audit will show city water users areas where they can cut back on their water consumption. The city would fund the audits. Instead of the term “zero-scape” in landscaping, Spokane water planners would like to start using the expression “water-smart.”
“We have a master-gardener’s program here,” says Woods. “We’ll offer classes on how to landscape attractively with native plants. Public outreach includes an ‘Extreme Garden Makeover’ show on local network television. Next year we may have a ‘water-smart’ edition of that as well.”
The city is sponsoring school essay and poster contests. Also, a partnership with Spokane Public Schools will enable grant writing for retrofitting different schools. “Water-efficient plumbing in the schools should help us get our foot in the door—hopefully—in getting our education use program in,” says Woods.
“Though we’ve gotten many of our ideas by studying what’s worked in other communities, much of what we’ve done has been through brainstorming, meeting with local residents, and asking for ideas.”
Ontario Community Sees a Need, Despite Abundant Water
In central Ontario an abundance of lakes and water creates a summertime population explosion. But water stewardship is still an important issue. Though most of southern Ontario is covered by water conservation authorities, towns in the central districts are not. The district municipality of Muskoka and the non-governmental authority, the Muskoka Heritage Foundation, came together and developed the Muskoka Watershed Council. This is a voluntary council made up of 30 people who have a stake in the watershed.
Council representation includes political representation from various towns and townships; representation from industries; and representatives from resorts, golf courses, and marinas. The main focus of the council is water stewardship. It also develops position papers on what it feels are issues affecting the watershed. The local municipalities are then encouraged to adopt some of the suggested practices in preserving the watershed.
The council also tries to take a watershed-wide view and not get involved with site-specific issues, instead taking an overall view. Issues it’s taken positions on include non-essential use of pesticides, aggregate use in the area, the living legacy preservation program, and road salt usage in the area.
“We’ve tried to be thorough and do a lot of research,” says Rebecca Crockford, watershed planning technician for both the Watershed Council and the District of Muskoka. “Once we’ve prepared a position, we try to use that to educate the general community with newspaper articles, and presentations to the council to influence them to adopt better practices as they assemble their official plans. We’ve put out a report card to let people know how we’ve done and to identify issues that are on the downward trend and then try to develop positions.”
Though the council has only been around since 2001, it has been busy working to raise awareness of issues not on everyone’s radar screens. “Some things had fallen through the cracks and we wanted to have an inclusive group to look at issues and to bring all sorts of perspectives to the table when addressing issues so they could be well rounded. We try to look at not just the environmental issues but the economy and things involving all residents as well—all the factors that go into having a healthy sustainable watershed.”
Despite drought not being an issue in this place of abundant lakes and water sources—Muskoka also borders the Great Lakes area of Georgian Bay—lower water in water bodies and such things as the US Army Corps of Engineers wanting to dredge the river exiting Lake Huron, further lowering water levels, still means water stewardship is an important issue.
“Any little thing that you do on land, because we have so much surface water, will almost immediately have an impact on area water,” says Crockford. “You get the surface-water resource itself driving you to be careful in what you do.”
The Nashua River Watershed Association
The Nashua River Watershed Association was formed in 1969 at a time when the river had major pollution problems, according to Elizabeth Ainsley Campbell, executive director of this Massachusetts association. Since then its focus has been on improving and maintaining the quality of the Nashua River. “We are also interested in preserving the quantity as well as the quality of water from this river and its watershed,” says Ainsley Campbell. “We recognize that in order to protect water resources, it’s also important to protect priority land parcels. We had enough focus, even in the early years of the association, to establish a greenway along the river; the association remains committed to looking into all other areas that are important as well and working in partnership to protect these parcels.”
The association has a strong educational component, educating both youth and adults. Youth encounter the Nashua River firsthand in outdoor programs while others learn about it in the classroom. Family programs, after-school programs, and a whole range of activities for adults highlight the water conservation message. “Our education outreach covers anything from a general interest program about owls to a technical program on how to craft an improved bylaw on soil erosion,” says Ainsley Campbell. “All in all we educate 11,000 adults and children each year through our programs.”
A voluntary water sampling program has been the centerpiece of the association’s activities for 14 years. This is mostly quantitative data, but that data assembly dovetails with studies being conducted by the Massachusetts River Ways Department on one of its programs to check on stream flows.
One of the association’s other main projects, Protecting Today’s Water for Tomorrow, focuses on sub-basins in the area. It’s a targeted watershed-initiative, grant-funded program from the USEPA, done in partnership with Beaver Brook Association, New England Forestry Commission, and the Trust for Public Land. “This major, multiyear program protects the priority lands that protect water resources in our area,” says Ainsley Campbell.
“The focus here is on drinking water as well as the surface water or the river. Again, this includes stewardship, education, forestry, exploring the possibility of forest cooperatives, forester training, monitoring—and a lot of work with land donors. When it comes to land parcels, we’ve found that keeping them forested is especially good protection.”