Ready for Summer! Seasonal Staff Join Fanshawe, Wildwood, and Pittock Conservation Areas for the 2026 Season
Ready for Summer! Seasonal Staff Join Fanshawe, Wildwood, and Pittock Conservation Areas for the 2026 Season As our Conservation Areas (CAs) open for the 2026 season, the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) is thrilled to welcome a new team of seasonal staff at Fanshawe, Wildwood, and Pittock CAs. Each year, these dedicated individuals play an essential role in ensuring our parks remain safe, enjoyable, and well-maintained for all visitors. This season’s hires include staff in trail work, maintenance, security, lifeguarding, and customer service roles. Together, they will support a wide range of CA activities, from day-use visits to [...]
New Drainage Recycling System at Wildwood Demonstration Farm
New Drainage Recycling System at Wildwood Demonstration Farm The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) has unveiled a new solar-powered drainage recycling system at the Wildwood Demonstration Farm near St. Marys, Ontario, helping showcase innovative ways farmers can adapt to extreme weather conditions while improving water management on their land. The 18-acre field had a history of poor drainage including prolonged surface ponding, which delayed planting and reduced crop yields. The new drainage system was designed to help manage both overly wet and dry conditions by collecting tile runoff in a storage pond and recycling it back onto the field when crops [...]
Source Protection Promotion at Children’s Water Festival
"Protecting the Source" at the 2026 Children’s Water Festival From May 12 to 15, the Thames-Sydenham Source Protection Region proudly participated in the 2026 London-Middlesex Children’s Water Festival at Fanshawe Conservation Area. The festival provided a fun and interactive opportunity for students to learn more about drinking water protection, where their water comes from, and the science behind keeping it safe. Throughout the event, students took part in a variety of hands-on activities focused on drinking water source protection and the multi-barrier approach used to protect municipal drinking water supplies. One of the highlights of the festival was a [...]
Emergency Preparedness Week
Emergency Preparedness Week Emergency Preparedness Week is observed across Canada during the first full week of May. This year’s theme - “Be Prepared, Know Your Risks” - is an important reminder, especially when it comes to flooding. April marked the 89th anniversary of the 1937 Thames River flood, when 150 mm (6 inches) of rain fell over five days. Communities in the Upper Thames River watershed were devastated when floodwaters rose, causing five deaths and property damage that reached $3 million (1937 dollars). The 1937 event remains the highest recorded flood on the Thames River and is considered equivalent to a 1:250-year [...]
Fanshawe Conservation Area receives Community Spirit Award
Fanshawe Conservation Area receives Community Spirit Award In January, LondonOntarioSports.com, London's Trusted Source for Sports News and Information, announced that Fanshawe Conservation Area (FCA) was the winner of the 2026 Community Spirit Award! Established in 2025, the Community Spirit Award recognizes Southwestern Ontario individuals and groups who change and better the lives of others through sports, leisure, and recreation. FCA staff were honoured to receive the award at a ceremony on April 17. “I know first-hand how Fanshawe CA betters and changes the lives of Londoners,” said LondonOntarioSports.com publisher and editor Jeffrey Reed. “As a youngster growing up in London’s [...]
Popular UTRCA Park Pass Program Continues to Grow
Popular UTRCA Park Pass Program Continues to Grow The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA)’s popular Library Park Pass program is underway for another year! The UTRCA has partnered with libraries throughout the watershed to provide day-use vehicle passes for their patrons. Library users can “check out” a day-use vehicle pass from their local library to be used over a three-day period. These passes will allow for day-use entry to Fanshawe Conservation Area in London and Wildwood Conservation Area outside of St. Marys. The following locations have been provided with 2026 passes: London Public Library Municipality of West [...]
Local Student Wins Conservation Award at Thames Valley Science and Engineering Fair
Local Student Wins Conservation Award at Thames Valley Science and Engineering Fair This April, Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) Education staff helped judge the Thames Valley Science and Engineering Fair at Western University in London. For the past 10 + years, UTRCA staff in conjunction with the Lower Thames Valley and Kettle Creek Conservation Authorities have judged and presented the Conservation Award to a Junior Division (Grades 6-8) project that best explores the topic of conservation with a local focus. This year's winner was Harry Boyd from Matthews Hall school. For his project, Renewable Alternatives to De-Icing Salt, Harry investigated whether [...]
Wildwood and Pittock Dams – More than just Flood Control
Wildwood and Pittock Dams - More than just Flood Control If you are a regular visitor to Fanshawe, Wildwood, or Pittock Conservation Area, you may have seen one of the reservoirs being used for its flood control role - storing water to reduce downstream flooding. Did you know that Wildwood and Pittock Reservoirs have a second, equally important, role: increasing downstream flows in the summer and fall? The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) stores water in Wildwood and Pittock Reservoirs to reduce downstream flooding due to snowmelt or rain, and uses that water to supplement downstream flows in the summer and fall, [...]
UTRCA Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program
UTRCA Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program Across the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) watershed, farmers and landowners are finding new ways to protect their soil, manage water, and sustain productivity for the long term. Supporting that work is at the objective of a new funding program: the Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program. What does this program offer? Funding towards establishing native grasslands or perennial cover, planting pollinator strips, shelterbelts and windbreaks to protect fields, strategically retiring fragile or marginal lands, and restoring wetlands. Reach out to our Stewardship Team to explore what’s possible on your property, and how these solutions can be tailored to [...]
Tree Planting Season Kicks Off
Tree Planting Season Kicks Off The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) has officially kicked off its 2026 tree planting season. With a strong lineup of funding programs, this year’s efforts are about more than putting trees in the ground - they’re about building healthier, more resilient landscapes for the future. Across the watershed, nearly 28,000 trees and shrubs will be planted this spring. Of those, 16,500 will be planted directly by UTRCA crews, with the remaining trees and seedlings planted by landowners themselves. Each planting project, whether a windbreak along a field, a new woodlot, or the restoration of a wetland, plays [...]