Fall 2011

Watershed Report Environmental news for the residents of the watershed • Distribution 210,000 copies

forfor Goals the Grand WhatWhat does the futurfuturee hold fforor the GGrandrandand RRiver?iver?

hat’shat’s thethe questionquestion atat thethe hhearteart ofof a e e WaterWWaater ManagementManagement PlanPlan willwill outlineoutline thethe acactionstions three-yearthree-year projectproject toto developdevelop a newnew WaWaterWater waterwater managementmanagement agenciesagencies willwill needneed toto taketakkee toto T ManagementManagement PlanPlan forffoor thethe GrandGrand RiverRiver addressaddress thosethose issuesissues andand others.others. e e planplan isis scheduledscheduled watershed.watershed. toto bebe completedcompleted byby thethe springspring ofof 2013 andand isis beingbeing developeddeveloped byby thethe GRCA,GRCA, municipalities,municipalities, provincialprovincial e e wawatershedtershed isis a bigbig aandnd busybusy pplace.lace. AndAnd it’sit’s agencies,agencies, federalffeederal departments,departments, FirstFirst NationsNations andand oothers.thers. goinggoing ttoo getget busierbusier asas thethe populationpopulation rushesrushes towardtoward oneone millionmillion people.people. ButBut likelike anyany plan,plan, itit needsneeds goalsgoals andand targets:targets: youyou needneed somesome wayway toto measuremeasure wherewhere youyyoou are,are, wherewhere you’reyou’re WillWill wewe havehaavve enenoughough waterwater fromfrfrom surfacesurface andand goinggoing andand howhow quicklyquickklly you’reyou’re gettinggetting there.there. groundwatergroundwater sourcessources toto meetmeet thethe needsneeds ofof growinggrowing cicities,ties, cutting-edgecutting-edge bbusinessesusinesses andand productiveproductive farms?farms? WillWill thethe rriveriver systemsystem bbee aableble ttoo Continued on Page 3 dealdeal withwith increasingincreasing oowsws fromffrrom sewagesewage ttreatmentreatment plants?plants? WillWill climateclimate cchangehange makemakkee oodingooding wworse?orse?

20112011 20122012 20132013 Followingthe Huntingfor Building SoftPath buriedwater alegacy Anewapproachtowater Ateamofscientistshas DonandJanetVallery conservationcouldhelp beenexploringanunder - havespentyearsworking communitiesmeettheir groundworldinthe torestorenaturalareas futureneeds. searchforaburiedriver neartheirpropertyon valley. LakeBelwood Page 6 Page 8 Page 12 The GRCA water gauge. Fences along HowToReachUs the sides of creeks stopped cows from entering the Joe Farwell ChiefAdministrativeOfficer AMessage Keith Murch AssistantCAO, water. Farmers had built SecretaryTreasurer FromtheChair new manure storage. The Shunpiking : Shunning turnpikes, touring back Rural Water Quality By Mail: GRCA Program supplied the 400ClydeRoad,Box729 roads. Cambridge, arren Stauch, a member of the GRCA funds. N1R5W6 board, shunpikes tourists along the JaneMitchell The headwaters are By Phone: 519-621-2761 best of the Grand River. He took board Chair sometimes said to be locat - Direct Line: 519-621-2763+ext. W Salter,StauchandMitchell Toll Free: 1-866-900-4722 member Pat Salter and me on a hunt for the ed at Luther Marsh. The By Fax: 519-621-4844 headwaters of the Grand. Luther Dam helps control flooding. The marsh, like all wetlands, cleans Website: www.grandriver.ca We started just outside West Montrose with a view possibly painted water. Luther Marsh is known for its heronry and large numbers of E-mail general inquiries: migrating waterfowl. The marsh also contains grasslands to preserve [email protected] by Homer Watson. Cattle rested under a tree in a summer green field. The river meandered to the covered bridge in the distance. birds like the bobolink. Common 40 years ago, they are now rare. Outside business hours: Travelling along the back roads, we crossed historic iron and bow - The headwaters are actually near Shrigley. The source of a river is 519-621-2761andleavemessage string bridges, large and small. An osprey with a large fish in its mouth often imagined as a bubbling spring. The Grand starts in a wetland. (8:30a.m.-4:30p.m.MondaytoFriday, excludingholidays) flew over us. Unfortunately, the rural infrastructure deficit was evident. We returned along byways, though GRCA owned farmland that was Old concrete bridge rails missed chunks and were eroded to iron bars. originally purchased for a never-built West Montrose dam. A successful River Information Line: Many examples of water management popped up. We came across a shunpiking tour. 519-621-2763ext.2519

Planning and Permits: 519-621-2763ext.2230 River Conservation Authority. Conservation Areas: Other stories examine some of the issues being addressed by the Headoffice 519-621-2763ext.2250 AMessage study. The cover story outlines water objectives for the Grand River BelwoodLake(Fergus) 519-843-2979 system, which includes streams and rivers feeding into the Grand, as Brant(Brantford) 519-752-2040 FromtheCAO ByngIsland(Dunnville) 905-774-5755 well as the watershed’s groundwater resources. ConestogoLake(Drayton) 519-638-2873 n this issue of The Grand, we turn our atten - Managing demand for water is highlighted in a story about the Soft EloraGorge(Elora) 519-846-9742 tion to the work being done to develop an Path Approach. GuelphLake(Guelph) 519-824-5061 updated Water Management Plan for the Another story explains the work being done to improve the opera - LaurelCreek(Waterloo) 519-884-6620 I LutherMarsh(GrandValley) 519-928-2832 Grand River watershed. This project has its roots JoeFarwell tion of sewage treatment plants to reduce their impact on the river sys - PinehurstLake(Paris) 519-442-4721 in a 1982 study that examined the watershed and Chief Administrative tem. The story on wastewater optimization also outlines how the pro - Rockwood(Rockwood) 519-856-9543 made recommendations related to water quality, Officer gram can reduce operating costs. Shade’sMills(Cambridge) 519-621-3697 water quantity and flooding – issues that are still A story on the Dundas Buried Bedrock Valley study highlights the Reserve a campsite: important today. results of a three-year project to examine an ancient buried river valley, Byphone 1-877-558-GRCA(4722) The updated study will address these issues within the context of which might hold promise for future water supply. Online www.grandriver.ca 21st century challenges such as climate change and population growth. The Grand River watershed supports a complex, living ecosystem. To The goals of the plan are to ensure sustainable water supply for water - develop a plan for managing the water within our watershed is a signif - Nature Centres: Apps’Mill(Brantford) 519-752-0655 shed communities and ecosystems, to reduce potential flood damages, icant challenge, and it requires cooperation and participation from a GuelphLake 519-836-7860 and to improve water quality to maintain river health. The project is number of partners. As you read The Grand, I hope you gain a sense of LaurelCreek(Waterloo) 519-885-1368 led by a steering committee of representatives from watershed munici - that shared responsibility, and some insight into some of the projects Shade’sMills(Cambridge) 519-623-5573 palities, First Nations, provincial and federal ministries and the Grand that are under way. Taquanyah(Cayuga) 905-768-3288

Grand River Conservation Foundation Phone: 519-621-2763ext.2272 Themunicipalitywhereyouliveappoints 1-877-29-GRAND oneormorerepresentativestotheGRCA E-mail: [email protected] Whospeaksfor you? boardtooverseethebudgetandactivities The GRAND ispublishedtwiceayear oftheconservationauthority. bytheGRCA,anddistributedinnews - papers tohouseholdsintheGrand Riverwatershed.Additionalcopies Townships of Amaranth, East Regional Municipality of City of Guelph: County of Oxford (Blandford- available. Garafraxa, East Luther Grand Waterloo (Cambridge, Bob Bell, Maggie Laidlaw Blenheim, East Zorra-Tavistock, Letters and comments to: Valley, Melancthon, Southgate: Kitchener, North Dumfries, Town of North Perth, Township Norwich): Bruce Banbury DaveSchultz,GRCA Tom Nevills Waterloo, Wellesley, Wilmot and 400ClydeRoad,Box729 of Perth East: George Wicke City of Brantford: Cambridge,Ontario,N1R5W6 Woolwich): Les Armstrong, Todd Townships of Mapleton and Regional Municipality of Halton Robert Hillier, Vic Prendergast (519)621-2763,Ext.2273 Wellington North: Pat Salter Cowan, Jan d’Ailly (GRCA 2nd (GRCA 1st vice-chair) [email protected] vice-chair), Rob Deutschmann, (Halton Hills and Milton): Township of : Jean Haalboom, Ross Kelterborn, Barry Lee County of Brant: Joanne Ross-Zuj Geoff Lorentz, Claudette Millar, City of Hamilton: Brian Coleman, Steve Schmitt Town of Erin, Townships of Jane Mitchell (GRCA chair), Jeanette Jamieson Haldimand and Norfolk Guelph/Eramosa and Puslinch: Warren Stauch Counties: Lorne Boyko, John Brennan Fred Morison Page 2 FALL 2011 • Watershed Report WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN GoalsfortheGrand Continued from Page 1 The Water Management Plan plans to recognize the role of the will include a set of targets and river in community life. the steps needed to meet those “People have been asked many targets. For example, it will times in the past several years include targets for the oxygen what they want to see” for the level in river water, which is a key river system and water resources, indicator of water quality. Other said Minshall. “So we started with targets will be set for water quali - what people have already told us.” ty, water quan - Sandra Cooke, tity and flood - senior water ing. quality supervi - However, it’s Weforcedourselvesto sor with the not a simple stepbackfromourdisci - GRCA, pointed task to pull plinesandlookatthe out that “we together the bigpicture. have all of these information different uses in Sandra Cooke needed to the watershed. develop a set of We use it for targets for a drinking water, resource as we fish in it, we ClaireHoleton(left)andSandraCookeoftheGRCAhaveworkedwithrepresentativesofotherwater vital as water and a system as put our treated sewage in it, we managementagenciesandgovernmentstodevelopasetofobjectivesforwaterintheGrandRiverwatershed. complicated as the Grand River use it for canoeing and recre - watershed. ation.” which may give rise to different Before coming up with hard Over the past year, Cooke and To see the results of the expectations. targets, it’s important to under - her GRCA colleague Claire project to identify water G Farmers need to fertilize their About stand what people expect from Holeton, a water quality specialist, objectives for the Grand crops, but if fertilizer makes its the rivers, streams and groundwa - have led a working group of peo - River watershed, please ter resources – the uses, needs ple from the GRCA and other way into the river system it can theplan turn to Pages 3 and 4. and values they attach to water. In water management agencies to result in excessive algae growth Goal: The Grand River short, what are the objectives for develop a set of objectives for and poor water quality. Water Management Plan water? water resources. will be needed to ensure the river G The GRCA’s network of seven Update will be an action plan Over the next year, teams of system is a healthy, thriving reservoirs is operated to moderate that the partners writing it will Looked at water needs ecosystem for its non-human experts will take the aspirations flows – reduce flood peaks and agree to implement. Over the years, different groups inhabitants. It will look at these key represented by the objectives and ensure flows don’t drop below have looked at pieces of the puz - turn them into something firm – At the start, the team members issues: minimum levels – but some zle, explained Lorrie Minshall, numerical targets that can be used knew that different users look at G A sustainable water supply species needed greater variety of program director for the Water to measure progress on the Water the river system through the for communities and ecosys - Management Plan. For example, Management Plan. prism of their own interests and flows at different times of the tems in the 1990s a Grand River To come up with a comprehen - responsibilities. year. G A reduction in flood damage Fisheries Management Plan was sive set of objectives, the working “We forced ourselves to step Find a balance potential developed. Also in the 1990s, group looked at the ways the river back from our disciplines and G Improvements to water qual - information was pulled together and groundwater system are used look at the big picture,” said The challenge in developing the ity to maintain river health, to support the designation of the now by municipalities, farmers, Cooke. Water Management Plan will be and to reduce the river’s Grand River as Canadian anglers, businesses and others. Inevitably, not all visions line to find the right balance among impacts on Lake Erie Heritage River. The working group members up in perfect harmony. The key the different visions, identify G Resiliency to deal with a More recently, municipalities considered the role of the river was to come up with a list of meaningful targets and develop a changing climate have developed waterfront master system in culture, recreation and objectives that “reflects the whole list of realistic and affordable Timeline: To be completed plans or updated their official tourism. And they looked at what watershed,” said Cooke. “All the solutions. by March 2013, although the partners need to see their inter - The working group led by plan may recommend more ests reflected in it so we can work Cooke and Holeton has come up research to take place after the to common goals.” with about two dozen objectives final report is done. For example: grouped into five categories: water Partners : The GRCA, G Old mill dams can hamper supply, hydrologic function, bio - municipalities, First Nations, water quality, which suggests they provincial ministries and fed - diversity and ecosystem integrity, should be removed. However, eral departments. A project river services and culture, recre - communities may want to retain team and working groups are them because of their aesthetic ation and tourism. made up of representatives and recreational value. “What we wanted to get to was from those agencies along with G All municipalities put their a list that will support the actions academics and key stakeholder treated sewage effluent into the that the partners (to the Water groups (e.g. agriculture, indus - river system, but only a few take Management Plan) can agree on try, environmental). drinking water from the river, and implement.” Grand River Conservation Authority • www.grandriver.ca Page 3 WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN

n important part of the Grand River We want your thoughts Watershed Water Management Plan will be Arealistic targets that can be used to report Residents of the Grand River watershed will get on progress in protecting and improving water a chance to comment on the objectives for the resources. Grand River Watershed Water Management Plan. Water As part of the of the process, a working group An online survey will be available about Oct. 1 of experts has developed a list of objectives based on the project website at www.grandriver.ca/wmp on the way water is used and the values that The website has more information on the watershed residents attach to it. The objectives are in five categories, although process that will be used to develop the plan, they overlap to some degree – a reflection of the including background documents, study results objectives fact that in a watershed, everything is connected and more. to everything else. Water supply he people, farms, businesses, institutions and factories The objectives for water supply in the Grand River Water Tof the Grand River watershed go through about 152 Management Plan recognize the variety of sources and the million cubic meters of water over the course of the year. many different uses for the water. To put that number in perspective, the average Canadian Objectives household use about one cubic metre of water a day. About 60 per cent of that water is supplied by municipal G The quantity of raw water for municipal supplies is water systems. One thing that sets these municipal systems reliable and able to meet current and future needs. apart from others in Ontario is their dependence on hun - G The quantity of raw water for agricultural and com - dreds of municipal wells and a handful of intakes on the mercial/industrial users is reliable and able to meet their Grand River. Most other Ontario cities and towns get their current and future needs. water from the Great Lakes. G The quality of the surface and groundwater used by Private water sources account for the rest. Many of them municipalities is of adequate and predictable quality to are private wells that supply water to rural homes and produce safe drinking water after going through a normal farms for uses including livestock watering and irrigation. treatment process. There are also private water takings from wells or intakes G Groundwater used by private well owners meets or on creeks and rivers for a wide variety of uses: aggregate exceeds provincial drinking water quality standards, unless washing, rural businesses and industries, golf course water - natural conditions related to the geology of the aquifer ing, food processing, water bottling and others. cause poor water quality. Hydrologic function he hydrologic function of a watershed is the way water needs and not necessarily the needs of the natural system. Tmoves on the surface, through the ground and back For example, when flows are kept within a narrow range and forth between them. during the summer the river may not get enough “flushing A river in its natural state – flowing through untouched flows” which clear out sediment and algae and revitalize wilderness and subject to ebbs and flows of the seasons – the river. will have its own cycle. When it comes to groundwater, it’s important to ensure But the Grand River system is far from natural. The that water on the surface, from rain or melting snow, can landscape has changed dramatically in the last 200 years. continue to enter the ground rather than be blocked by Forests were cleared and wetlands drained to make way for asphalt or carried away by farm drains and municipal farms, towns and cities. storm drains. As a result, the Grand and other rivers and streams in Objectives the watershed are more subject to extremes – bigger floods G The flow regime (i.e. the highs and lows of flows) sup - in the spring, lower flows in the summer – that can have port healthy river processes. an impact on human uses as well as the fish, birds, bugs G The amount of water in groundwater aquifers is main - and animals that depend on the river, wetlands and other tained in the long term. features. G The movement of water from the surface to groundwa - To compensate for the lack of natural processes, seven ter (recharge) and from groundwater back to the surface reservoirs have been built to manage flows to reduce flood (discharge) is maintained so water quality, water supplies peaks and ensure the rivers continue to flow during dry and habitat are supported. summers. G The risk to life and property from flooding and ero - The reservoirs are managed largely to meet human sion is managed.

Page 4 FALL 2011 • Watershed Report WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN Biodiversity and ecosystem integrity ost people think of the Grand River, tributaries and tant to the future health of Lake Erie. The Grand River is a Mwetlands in the context of their role in human activi - significant source of some materials, such as phosphorous, ty, as a source of drinking water or a place to canoe or fish. which lower water quality in the lake. But the system is also vital to many species – plants, ani - Objectives mals, birds, fish, insects – that live in the river, along its banks (the riparian zone) or in a wetland. G Water quality supports the health and biodiversity of Like humans, these species need a certain quality and aquatic, riparian and wetland communities. quantity of water. The needs will vary from species to G The flow of water in the river system supports the life - species and may change over the course of a creature’s life cycle requirements of aquatic and riparian species or from season to season. Their needs must be taken into G Water quality does not promote excessive growth of account to maintain a thriving, healthy ecosystem. When aquatic vegetation or harmful algal blooms in rivers, the system is thrown out of balance, some species will streams and reservoirs thrive – algae, for example – at a cost to other species. G Interactions between Lake Erie and the Grand River Maintaining a healthy Grand River system is also impor - support the ecological integrity of both systems. Culture, recreation and tourism he Grand River system has gone through a significant some places. Businesses offering canoe rentals or guiding Ttransformation over the past decades. A generation services for anglers have popped up along the Grand in ago, it was a place to be avoided. However, improvements recent years. in sewage treatment, the protection of natural areas, a sig - Objectives nificant increase in tree planting and other activities have restored the river as a place for recreation or quiet contem - G The rivers are an amenity in the communities through plation. which they pass. While in the past some communities turned their back G The rivers are aesthetically pleasing to support recre - on the river, today they embrace it. Several are developing ational, cultural and destination tourism uses. waterfront plans to improve the amenities along the river G Flows are sufficient to reasonably support paddling in including new trails, parks and cultural and recreational the parts of the system where flows are augmented with facilities. The Grand has attained national recognition as a water from reservoirs. Canadian Heritage River. G Water quality and quantity needs of sport fish popula - For some communities, the river system has become an tions are met to optimize angling opportunities and com - important part of their economic development efforts. munity benefits. They cite the river system as an important part of their G Water quality does not restrict human consumption of quality of life as they try to lure new businesses and indus - fish. tries. G Restrictions on swimming at public beach areas are River-based tourism has become a growth industry in minimized. River services hen people think of community infrastructure, GRCA and others privately owned. Wthey’re likely to picture roads, water treatment plants The Grand River system is also a significant source of and sewer lines. fish supporting a thriving commercial fishery on Lake Erie. But the Grand River and its tributaries are important Objectives parts of community infrastructure as well. In fact, without G The capacity of the river system to accommodate treat - the river many pieces of municipal and provincial infra - ed wastewater without adverse impacts on the ecosystem structure simply wouldn’t be able to function. or human uses is optimized For example, there are more than 30 sewage treatment G The provision for urban drainage is optimized without plants in the Grand River watershed. After they’ve done adverse impacts on the ecosystem or human uses. their job of treating raw sewage, the effluent is released G The provision for drainage of productive agricultural into a stream or river. Natural processes in the river con - land is optimized without adverse impacts on the ecosys - tinue the treatment process. tem or human uses. Storm water from city streets flows through storm sew - G Hydroelectric power production is pursued as a sec - ers into the river system, to reduce urban flooding. ondary benefit of river flow where it is cost effective. Farmers use tile drainage to get rid of water so they can G Water quantity and quality are sufficient for fish work their land in the spring. species that spend part of their life in the Grand River and The river system provides other services, as well. There are the subject of commercial fishing operations on Lake are a handful of hydroelectric plants, some owned by the Erie.

Grand River Conservation Authority • www.grandriver.ca Page 5 WATER SuPPLIES The Soft Path to saving water Waterdemandmanagement programcouldhelpcommunities meettheirfuturewaterneeds

By Janet Baine the traditional forecast methods, GRCACommunicationsSpecialist much more water would be need - ed by 2040 and the community hen it comes to water, would need new water sources by the residents of Fergus 2028. Wand Elora may follow a However, finding new supplies new path which could dramatical - and bringing it to users is expen - ly cut consumption and infra - sive and may be environmentally structure costs. unsustainable. It’s called the “Soft Path” That traditional “supply-side approach and it was developed water management doesn’t work after the 1973 energy crisis for any more,” said James Etienne, the energy planning but now it has senior water resources engineer been refined and applied to water. with the GRCA who led the proj - A recently completed study ect. looked at how to apply the Soft Path approach in Fergus and More efficient fixtures Elora — two communities in One thing that has changed the Centre Wellington Township with formula is that average household a municipal water system. water use is generally declining as AmandaWong,waterresourceanalystwiththeGRCAusesahomemaderainbarrel Traditional water management new, more efficient fixtures are anddripirrigationsystemtowaterplantsinaGRCAstaffgarden. efforts focus on the supply side of introduced, such as low-flow toi - ent point of view. The Soft Path to 2040 and beyond, using the tion is already declining. Looking the equation — bring more water lets, shower heads, washing offers an alternative to traditional same amount of water used in 30 years into the future allows lots machines and so on. to consumers through develop - water-saving practices. 2008. of time to implement change. The “So even someone with no ment of new water sources and The four main principles are: “Adopting a Soft Path approach interim target is “very comfort - infrastructure. Future water needs water awareness will use less G Treat water as a service, rather means Fergus-Elora would follow able” and will help the community would be forecast by estimating water in a newer home,” said than an end in itself. the lead of communities such as find many opportunities to save population growth and multiply - Etienne. “You can’t help but be G Make ecological sustainability Calgary and York Region in mak - more water in the coming ing that by current water use. more efficient now.” a priority. ing a commitment to use the decades, she said. The population of Fergus and However, the Soft Path G Match the quality of water to same amount of water in the Communities such as York Elora is expected to double approach goes even further by the end use (for example, using future as they use today – and Region and Calgary had more between 2008 and 2040. Based on looking at water use from a differ - rainwater to water landscapes or reap the long-term benefits of sig - staff members and resources to grey water to flush toilets). nificant cost and energy savings,” draw upon when they initiated 40,000 18,000 G Plan from the future goal and said Carol Maas, innovation and the Soft Path approach. The

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0 0 Wellington, the Elora ciency is a largely 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 Environment Centre, the untapped opportunity to reduce Fergus-Elora pilot project adapts University of Waterloo and the costs and support continued eco - the concept to a smaller commu - Total MDD Interim Target Soft Path Population Ministry of the Environment. nomic and ecological health with - nity with fewer resources. The study says its feasible for in the watershed.” The Fergus-Elora project start - Theredlineshowstheincreaseintotalwaterconsumptionbasedon Fergus and Elora is to “use the That target may seem challeng - ed in 2009 and is now complete, traditionalcalculations.Thedashedlineshowstheprojectedwateruseif same water tomorrow we use ing at first glance, but Maas but it will be up to Centre theSoftPathapproachweretobeimplemented. today” by accommodating growth points out that water consump - Wellington Township and its resi -

Page 6 FALL 2011 • Watershed Report WATER SuPPLIES

Water conservation inFergus Thischartshowshow andElora changesinindoorwater ergus and Elora residents usecouldresultina are already below average significantdrop in their water use inwateruseperperson. F The GRCA sent a water sur - Legend vey to nearly 6,000 households G Lpf –Litresperflush in Fergus and Elora in March G Lpm –Litresper 2009 to ask residents about minute their current water use. G L/load –Litresperload “We did this research G Lcd –Litrespercapita because we didn’t have much perday information about what resi - dents of Fergus and Elora were doing in the way of water con - servation,” explained Amanda Wong, water resource analyst with the GRCA. She was impressed that 22 per cent of the surveys were returned, reflecting a strong interest in the issue. The sur - veys showed that residents are dents to decide if and how to Etienne. dents currently use water. Sarah use, one for industries, institu - already conserving water. They implement the Soft Path for water. A significant part of the Soft Wolfe and Catherine Leighton at tions and commercial use and a use 191 litres per person per “It could be the best plan in the Path approach is that it focuses on the University of Waterloo looked third for indoor residential use. day, compared to a provincial world, but if the community is engaging people. The planning at how Fergus and Elora will These road maps identify oppor - average of 260 litres a day and a not going to accept it, then noth - process would involve not just make this change and the existing tunities to save water. national average of 335 litres. ing will be accomplished. This staff in the water department, but social network that can help facil - “People are really conscious plan has to be matched to the everyone in the community. itate it. They conducted inter - More use of grey water of their water use. We found community’s willingness to The GRCA undertook a water views, characterized the commu - Successes in other communities that half of the respondents had undertake the changes,” said use survey to find out how resi - nity’s social network and held that have resulted in dramatic undertaken seven or more workshop discussions. improvements in efficiency are water saving initiatives,” Wong Maas and Susanne Porter-Bopp also described. Many of these said. Some of the findings include: Dramaticwaterreduction at the POLIS Project then built on entail matching water quality to the water use survey to explore G 70 per cent of respondents the use, such as using grey water canbecomeawayoflife each element of a Soft Path plan already have low flow toilets or rain water harvesting. ramatic cuts in water use are 2011 water efficiency award from for Fergus-Elora. G 30 per cent use front-load Dnot such a crazy idea. the city. “The detailed analysis and The initial plan was to have the clothes washers Statistics show that per capita “I feel very proud to be able to action plan outlines the specific Soft Path report dovetail with G 50 per cent have low-flow water use is declining across the save and avoid drawing water steps for the community to Centre Wellington’s Water Master showerheads and faucets. country and across the watershed. from the city’s supply,” he wrote. achieve water sustainability over Plan which is now underway. The G 50 per cent of households In Guelph, for example, per “If only a small percentage of the next 30 years. It focuses on technical work for the master plan have a rain barrel or are plan - capita water use declined by 23 Guelph residents would adopt this both efficiency and conservation is taking longer than anticipated ning to get one within a year, per cent between 2000 and 2010. system, we would be able to save and is a model that can be adapt - and is not yet complete. The Soft even though the municipality In part that’s because policies several hundred cubic metres of ed for any community,” Maas said. Path report will be presented as doesn’t have a rain barrel pro - are changing. Since 1996, the gram. our precious drinking water every Establish targets an alternative during the public Ontario Building Code has presentations on the water master year.” The Soft Path plan for Fergus- required water-efficient fixtures in plan. new buildings. Technology, water pricing and Elora established an interim target awareness that water resources are “The Soft Path will probably As well, some individuals are for 2028 and a long-term vision More on the Soft Path turning reduction in water use limited are combining to drive for 2040. The research considered play a very important part in our To learn more about the into a personal challenge. consumption down. the specific challenges faced by water strategy master plan,” said Soft Path and the Fergus-Elora Erminio Artuso of Guelph, for Even people who are not aware Fergus and Elora as part of the Ken Elder, director of public study, go to website of the example, collects nearly 10,000 of the water they use will use dra - Grand River watershed. It pres - works for Centre Wellington. POLIS Project on Ecological litres of rainwater a year in cis - matically less in a new home built ents three road maps that describe “With the Soft Path, they have Governance at www.poliswater - terns for outdoor use in his gar - in 2011 compared to a similar the path forward for each type of another tool in the tool box of project.org dens. He was presented with a home built 20 years earlier. water use: one for outdoor water water efficiency and reduction.”

Grand River Conservation Authority • www.grandriver.ca Page 7 WATER SuPPLIES Hunting for buried water By Dave Schultz Dundas Buried Bedrock Valley. GRCACommunicationsManager Geologists call these types of Astudyofanancientburiedrivervalleymay formations “thalwegs.” That’s a leadtowatersourcesforgrowingcommunities he landscape of the Grand word used to describe the bottom River watershed – the hills, of a river valley. Tvalleys, sandy soils and clay Many years ago – no one knows It’s important to understand the shape and structure of the buried plains we see today – are the lega - when – a river flowed on top of Thismapshowsthe cy of glaciers that pushed and bedrock that is at least 420 mil - valley because it provides insights locationofthalwegs into the way groundwater moves scraped their way across the sur - lion years old. The bedrock valley (buriedrivervalleys) under today’s landscape, says intheGrandRiver face thousands of years ago. goes from today’s Lake Huron, But there are older landscapes Gregg Zwiers, a hydrogeologist watershed. cuts across buried deep below the surface. with the GRCA and one of the through the middle of the Grand Drill down and you can take a project’s leaders. River watershed, and then east to geological time trip, encountering And the information from the Hamilton where it plunges deep old lakebeds, river deltas, hills, study can be used by municipali - valleys and other long-lost fea - below Lake Ontario. In some ties as they search for water sup - tures, some of them dating back places the valley is 40 metres plies for their growing cities and hundreds of millions of years. below the surface, in others it’s towns, added Zwiers. 160 metres or more. “It’s a fascinating thing to track Exploring ancient valley Between 10,000 and 50,000 this feature and find out about For the past three years, scien - years ago, the river valley was something hidden,” said Zwiers. tists from the Grand River filled with sand, soil, and gravel. The Ontario Geological Survey Conservation Authority and the In some cases, advancing glaciers covered the cost of the $600,000 Ontario Geological Survey have pushed stuff into the valley. At project. The GRCA contributed been exploring that underground other times, torrents of melting the time and expertise of Zwiers world to learn more about an water from retreating glaciers and other staff who worked on ancient feature known as the deposited the material. the project. The Region of Waterloo, City of Hamilton and McMaster University also played a role. According to Zwiers, the proj - ect met its goals. Productive area “There’s very productive mate - rial,” in the buried valley, said Zwiers. “You could pump quite a bit of water from it.” buried beneath the modern day “matter of connecting the dots to Whether that will happen will surface. trace the buried valley back from depend on the needs of munici - From the time of Spencer’s Dundas,” said Zwiers. palities along the length of the speculation in the 1880s, it took However, there were still some valley, added Zwiers. (See related more than a century before the unanswered questions: What story on Page 9.) buried parts of the valley were shape was the valley? What kind A follow-up study could answer mapped. of material was in it? Did it hold questions about whether water is That happened in the 1990s useable amounts of water? Was seeping from the buried valley when a major study was done of the water quality good enough for into the Grand near Glen Morris, the groundwater system of the human use? contributing to an improvement Grand River watershed. Finding the answers required in water quality in the stretch As part of the study, water well getting out into the field, said between Cambridge and Paris. records collected by the province Zwiers. The buried valley takes its since the 1940s were examined to The research team identified name from the Dundas Valley learn more about the characteris - three sections for more study: near Hamilton. The town of tics of subsurface soils and between Paris and Lynden; south - Dundas is cradled in the valley, bedrock. west of Kitchener to Roseville; which is a notch in the Niagara What they found, said Zwiers, and near the village of Wellesley. Escarpment. In the 1880s, Dundas were areas where there was a sud - In 2007, sophisticated equip - geomorphologist J.W. Spencer den drop-off in the depth to the ment was used to measure tiny studied the Dundas Valley and bedrock layer. changes in gravity caused by GRCAhydrogeologistGreggZwiersexaminesacoresample theorized it was the visible exten - The researchers plotted the changes in the depth to bedrock. takenfromtheDundasBuriedBedrockValley. sion of a much bigger valley locations on a map and it was a That gave the researchers a better

Page 8 FALL 2011 • Watershed Report WATER SuPPLIES picture of the route of the valley east of the village the drill went and its depth. down 200 metres and never did Then, in 2008 and 2009, test hit rock, for a drop of at least 160 wells were drilled at eight loca - metres. Niagara Falls, by compari - tions. About 535 metres of core son, is about 50 metres high. samples were pulled out of the During 2009 and 2010 the earth, carefully packaged and sent study team looked at the potential to the OGS lab in Sudbury for of the valley as a source of munic - analysis. ipal water. Pumping tests at sever - Elizabeth Priebe, a hydrogeolo - al locations showed “you could gist with the OGS and another pump quite a bit of water,” said member of the study team, said Zwiers. Whether it would be the results were encouraging. enough to meet municipal needs They found sand and gravel soils, would require more study. which are often rich Examined water quality aquifers When the research team stud - because ied the quality of the water, they water can found, to little surprise, that the easily fill the water was hard and contained sul - space phates, iron and dissolved solids. between the That’s true for many wells in this grains. part of Ontario, said Zwiers, and The core is a result of the nature of the samples bedrock. GillesBergeronandLucHouleuseadevicethatmeasurestinychangesingravity ElizabethPriebe yielded some However, they also found signs causedbychangesinthedistancefromthesurfacetobedrock. other inter - of contamination from human ©2011 Waterloo Region Record, Ontario, Canada esting information, said Priebe. activity. High levels of sodium They contained tiny wood chips that carbon dating showed to be and chloride were found in the about 46,000 years old. Lynden area, probably a result of Buriedvalleystudyprovides At Lynden they found tiny decade’s worth of road salt mak - shards of Queenston shale – one ing its way from the surface down of the materials that makes up the to the aquifer. usefulinfoforWaterlooRegion Niagara Escarpment – which sug - Some wells also showed elevat - ould the Dundas Buried about 2035, when a Lake Erie growth is taking place and, gest that at some point glaciers ed nitrate levels. Nitrates are Bedrock Valley be a future pipeline would be brought on importantly, close to existing pushed the material westward up found in animal waste with com - Csource of municipal drink - line. infrastructure – pipes and treat - the escarpment, said Zwiers. mon sources being manure or fer - ing water? However, any water supply ment plants – to keep costs under The study also produced evi - tilizer spread on farm fields or The information from the master plan is based on future control. dence of what might have been a leakage from septic systems. Dundas Buried Bedrock Valley water demand and right now Data from the Dundas Valley huge waterfall near Copetown, a Yet, said Zwiers, most of the study is one piece of information those projections are under study, along with other hydrogeo - village midway between Brantford Dundas Buried Bedrock Valley being used by the Region of scrutiny. logical work done by the GRCA, and Hamilton. has a potential to be a good sup - Waterloo to identify sites for The water consumption trends the Region, the Ontario West of Copetown, the drill hit ply of drinking water. In fact, potential new water supply wells, have shown a continuous decline Geological Survey and other bedrock 40 metres below the sur - many private wells already tap said Richard Wootton, a senior over the last 10 years, which is agencies would be examined to face, explained Zwiers. However, into it. hydrogeologist with the Region. attributed to active conservation find the best locations where The Region operates the largest programs and changes in water water might be available in the groundwater-based municipal use by industry. As a result, the quality and quantity required to water system in the country. It has need for new sources isn’t as meet the Region’s needs. more than 120 wells that draw pressing as it was a few years ago, Once a site is identified, a test about 80 per cent of the water said Wootton. well is drilled and pumping tests used to supply about 520,000 peo - If it turns out that new wells are are done to verify the volume and ple in Kitchener, Waterloo, needed to meet overall water quality of water that would be Cambridge and the surrounding demand growth, or to meet available. townships. The remaining 20 per demand in high-growth areas, the An Environmental Assessment cent comes from an intake on the areas spotlighted by the Dundas would be required to ensure the Grand River. Valley study could be looked at new well would not pose any Right now, the Region is updat - for potential new well sites. ing its long-range water supply harm to the natural system or master plan, which is expected to Long process other well owners in the area. take about a year. The previous But it’s not a quick or easy And, finally, the Region would plan, completed in 2007, says the process, cautioned Wootton. The have to get a Permit To Take Region will continue to use the process of bringing a new well Water and other approvals from river intake, Aquifer Storage and online can take three to five years. the province in order to operate Recovery, its existing wells and Ideally, new wells should be the well and associated equip - ©2011 Waterloo Region Record, Ontario, Canada some new or upgraded wells until located close to where new ment.

Grand River Conservation Authority • www.grandriver.ca Page 9 WATER QuALITy Cleaner future for sewage plants By Janet Baine through the optimization process. GRCACommunicationsSpecialist The GRCA and wastewater man - agers would like to see this pro - hen you head down to gram extend across the watershed. the river to canoe, or go There are 30 wastewater treat - Wto city hall to pay your ment plants in the Grand River property taxes, you can be grate - watershed that take what we put ful that sewage plant operators of down drains and toilets, clean it the Grand River watershed have up and then put it back into the started talking to each other rivers and tributaries of the about something called “optimiza - Grand. tion.” GerryAtkinson(right),operationsleadhandandCameronWalsh,formermanagerofGuelph’swastewaterservic - “What we are hoping to see Wastewater optimization is a es,duringacapacitytestofthecity’streatmentplant.Thetestshowedtheplant canreliablytreatmorewastewaterthanitisratedfor. process sewage plant operators from optimization is reduced adopt to make their plants as effi - environmental impact such as cient as possible using their exist - lower phosphorus and ammonia ing technology. loading. Also fewer wastewater Improvingtheefficiencyoftreatmentplants It results in cleaner effluent bypasses. There will be some sav - helpstheenvironmentandthepocketbook leaving the plants and entering ings, because this approach uses the rivers and streams of the existing infrastructure, so we water optimization. operation, maintenance and palities with plants participated in Grand River system. It’s also start - expect it will save taxpayer’s If the GRCA receives funding design of wastewater treatment three workshops led by Dr. David ing to help municipalities save money,” said Mark Anderson, to bring the process to other plants. It was developed by the Chapman, a consultant who spe - money on plant operations. GRCA water quality engineer, plants, it will be the first water - Environmental Protection Agency cializes in wastewater optimiza - So far, plants in Guelph and who headed up a recent pilot shed-wide wastewater optimiza - in the United States during the tion. Wastewater plant operators Haldimand County have gone project for watershed-wide waste - tion program in Canada and, 1980s. The City of Guelph began toured the Guelph plant and stud - Guelph WWTP Final Euent more than likely, the first in optimizing in 2005 and ied optimization in Haldimand Monthly Average Chlorine Residual 2008 to 2010 North America. Haldimand County began in County. They did homework 2008. Both have had many suc - assignments to summarize the 0.1 Effluent affects water quality Chlorine Residual cesses in cleaner data from their 0.09 Future Environment Effluent changes the physical, E€ective Process Control Canada Guideline effluent and sav - own facilities and 0.08 Established March 2008 chemical and biological character - ing money. learned how 0.07 istics of the water. For example, Theprimaryfocusisnot Progressive reduction in residual chlorine variability They are both optimization effluent contains chemicals such costsavings,buttrying 0.06 achieved through e€ective problem solving. optimization could be applied Performance is maintained.

L as phosphorous and nitrogen todothebestyoucan

/ leaders in the at their plants. 0.05 g which are a component of human withwhatyouhave.

m watershed and “The primary 0.04 and animal waste and are also in Canada. David Chapman focus is not cost 0.03 found in fertilizers. When the A $57,000 savings, but try - 0.02 phosphorus and nitrogen levels in grant from the ing to do the best Future Environment Canada wastewater effluent are high, it 0.01 Chlorine Residual Requirement Ministry of the you can with what Bisulphite Dosing Pump Failure and Replacement leads to increased algae growth. Environment’s Drinking Water you have. It is getting the best 0 Dec 07 Feb 08 Apr 08 June 08 Aug 08 Oct 08 Dec 08 Feb 09 Apr 09 Jun 09 Aug 09 Oct 09 Dec 09 Feb 10 Apr 10 This decreases the oxygen in the Stewardship Program was used quality effluent from the existing MONTH river, creating unhealthy condi - for the pilot program — a test to plants,” Chapman said. Chlorineisusedtodisinfectwastewatertreatmentplanteffluentbefore tions for fish and other aquatic see if wastewater optimization Both Chapman and Anderson itisputreleasedintotheriver.Bychangingthewaytheplantisrun, creatures. could be rolled out to all of the believe there was enough interest Guelphmanagedtomeetfederalstandardsformaximumchlorinelevels Wastewater optimization is a plants in the watershed. and positive feedback to show withoutspendingmillionsonnewequipment. long-term process targeted at the Twelve of 13 watershed munici - that optimization could work

Page 10 FALL 2011 • Watershed Report WATER QuALITy throughout the Grand River There are, however, big varia - for all the plants and then select watershed. If this takes place it tions in the limits. Each plant is the ones to participate,” Chapman would be very innovative. striving to meet effluent require - said. Those that would benefit the “I don’t know of any area-wide ments that were set individually most could be among the first to wastewater optimization pro - by different Ministry of the participate, but eventually all grams that are on a watershed Environment offices at different would be brought into the opti - basis in Canada or the United times over the past 30 years. mization program. States,” Chapman However, as Anderson is examining what said. “I think it is new plants come would happen if the 10 big waste - a wonderful on line or old water plants in the central Grand opportunity. It plants are Wastewateroptimization River were optimized. is really quite showsthatastewardship upgraded the He is using the Grand River unique and approachcanbeused... requirements Simulation Model (GRSM) to find innovative, but tomakearealdifference. have been tight - out how this change would there will be ened. The vari - impact the water quality of the lots of chal - Mark Anderson ation in Grand River. A model is neces - lenges.” requirements sary because changes in water The Ministry shows what can quality result from a complex of the En vir on - be done to interaction of many factors that DavidChapman(left)andHaldimandCountystaffmembersPhilWilson ment issues permits to wastewater improve effluent at plants with are changing over time. The treatment plant that set out older or higher targets. (centre)andTimHowarth(right)reviewplansofawastewatertreat - model covers the Grand River mentplantduringanon-siteevaluation. requirements for the quality of the “The next step looking forward from the Shand Dam to effluent put out by each plant. is to complete the data collection Ohsweken and the Speed River from Guelph Lake to Cambridge, Haldimand,Guelph where it enters the Grand. Preliminary results show that wastewater optimization could countthesavings improve water quality in the he City of Guelph started the effluent but too much can be Grand River. wastewater optimization harmful to the natural environ - Tin 2005 and Haldimand ment. Environment Canada set a Set voluntary targets County began the process in new requirement to discharge The program is voluntary and 2008. less than 0.02 mg/litre in the based on building partnerships Once started, optimization effluent by January 2010. and trust. Anderson expects that enables wastewater operators to Guelph’s existing dechlorination plant operators will be able to set continually improve their prac - system was not meeting this new voluntary goals for effluent tices and the performance of requirement and a new ultravio - quality at each plant that would their plants. let disinfection system was rec - be more stringent than those out - Guelph has had many success - ommended. Instead, staff opti - lined in their provincial certificate es since optimization got under - mized the existing process and it of approval. The plant operators way. now complies with the require - will then report the results and The city is on a small river – ment. This avoided an estimated identify and fix any problems that the Speed – which has a limited $8 million in capital expenses, come up. capacity to accommodate waste - not including maintenance and water. Rather than spend mil - The GRCA has applied for operations costs. lions on mechanical or structural funding through a provincial pro - G Guelph has fewer and small - improvements to the plant, the gram called Showcasing Water er wastewater tertiary treatment city chose to invest instead in Innovation. An announcement bypasses — times when treated upgrading the knowledge of was expected this month. If the wastewater bypasses the last fil - grant is awarded, the Grand River their staff. Starting in 2006, Guelph’s tration step and directly enters watershed could have the first wastewater treatment plant made the river. optimization program in North G operational changes and encour - Since Haldimand County America to cover multiple munic - aged staff efficiency through started wastewater treatment ipalities. training. This shrank the gap optimization in 2008, wastewater “The GRCA has been working between knowing how to man - treatment plant upgrades valued with farmers to make improve - age wastewater and doing it con - at $20 million were found to be ments to land management prac - sistently. unnecessary. The overall opera - tices through the Rural Water Here are some benefits: tion of their plants has been Quality Program for more than a G Guelph has deferred around improved thanks to better tools decade,” Anderson said. $6 million in infrastructure costs that help manage and report on “Wastewater optimization shows and is investigating if there is data so that better decisions can that a stewardship approach can enough plant capacity to remove be made. be used to work with the opera - an additional $14 million in “Optimization is proving to MarkAnderson,awaterqualityengineer,atoneoftheGRCA’swater tors and managers of wastewater upgrades. make a big difference,” said Mark qualitymonitoringstations,whichtakeround-the-clockreadingsthat treatment plants to make a real G Chlorine is used to disinfect Anderson of the GRCA. areuploadedhourlytotheGRCAwebsite. difference in the watershed.”

Grand River Conservation Authority • www.grandriver.ca Page 11 Building a legacy of conservation InspiredbytheGRCA,aLakeBelwood and recreation couplearerestoringformergravelpit By Logan Walsh of their property abuts GRCA GRCFDevelopmentAssistant land. In 1913, Don’s father bought a ong-time residents of Lake plot of land along the Grand Belwood, successful busi - River. In 1942, the Shand Dam Lness owners Don and Janet was built and their riverfront land Vallery know about conservation soon became lakefront property and recreation. on Lake Belwood, the reservoir Aside from being contributors created by damming the Grand. to the GRCF’s Living Classroom Since then the Vallerys have Campaign and Luther Marsh purchased adjacent lots, devel - Wildlife Management Area, Don oped the Highland Pines and Janet own and operate Campground and have been Highland Pines Campground, a working with GRCA to reforest family-friendly camping destina - their land. tion on the shores of Lake Belwood, northeast of Fergus. Growing relationship Each year approximately 400 fam - What began as a business rela - ilies set up camp at Highland tionship has grown into some - Pines where they fish, swim and thing more. enjoy family time in a natural set - Though his business at ting. Highland Pines property he The Vallerys first got to know “developed a respect for the the GRCA and, later, the Grand GRCA” and got to know the River Conservation Foundation, GRCA’s encompassing approach DonandJanetVallerymakehabitatrestorationtheirpriority. by being good neighbours: much to water and land management, said Don. property, it is clear to see why in the Grand River system and gravel, is a blank canvas for eco - Given the Vallerys’ working habitat restoration is a priority for saw how “Luther Marsh is where logical restoration and the relationship and respect for the Youcanhelp,too! the Vallerys. The care they have the Grand begins. Water quality is Vallerys are taking up the chal - GRCA, it was an easy jump to for their land is evident in the essential to everyone downstream lenge. For more than 40 years, the become involved with the Grand River Conservation thousands of trees they’ve planted – especially here at Lake Once complete, the restored Foundation. During GRCF’s Foundation has improved our over the decades. Osprey rook - Belwood.” area will boast a low-density quality of life by enriching Living Classroom Campaign in the natural values of the the early 2000s, the Vallerys made eries have been erected and an ‘Amazing transformation’ campground, a meandering creek Grand River watershed and eco-friendly campground is in and wetland, a meadow habitat, their first major contribution to Janet, too, was inspired by the encouraging people to enjoy, development. A retirement com - and many opportunities for bird and to learn from, the great GRCF. restoration projects at Luther outdoors. “We feel strongly about envi - munity developed by the Vallerys Marsh: “You take an unusable watching. There will be pathways ronmental education for kids,” adheres to the highest standards field and turn it into a healthy for observing nature and “no-go” Formoreinformation: said Janet. Their donation, along in energy efficiency. wetland habitat – it’s an amazing areas to protect wildlife. “We want to support local reha - “We want to replicate the suc - • SubscribetoRiverNews, with many others, helped keep transformation.” theFoundationnewsletter nature centres open across the bilitation projects of unused and The Vallerys support of wetland cess at Luther Marsh: take vacant bysigningupon www.grcf.ca watershed. unhealthy lands. We want to see restoration at Luther Marsh is, in land and create a healthy habitat • Todonate,visit www.grcf.ca Their support of Foundation animals return to naturalized many ways, a test trial for their that stays true to a naturally his - projects has extended to habitat areas,” explains Janet. own wetland restoration. toric landscape of Southern • Phonetoll-free 1-877-29-GRAND restoration at Luther Marsh When the Vallerys visited Several years ago, the Vallerys Ontario,” explains Janet. “This is a Wildlife Management Area near Luther Marsh they were amazed acquired a heavily degraded par - long-term project and we are cre - • E-mail Grand Valley. by its beauty and uniqueness. cel of land used for gravel extrac - ating a lasting legacy for our fami - [email protected] Why restoration? Visiting their Don recognized its importance tion. The land, now depleted of ly and our guests.”

Learn more about the Grand River Conservation Foundation • www.grcf.ca