Seedy Saturdays in London and Woodstock
Seedy Saturdays in London and Woodstock Spring is in the air and on the land! As folks begin to plan their gardens and start their seeds, Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) Partnerships and Education staff participated in Seedy Saturday events on March 1st and 8th in London and Woodstock, respectively. In London, 1000 + visitors took in the over 60 exhibition booths at the Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre. UTRCA staff used a flood plain simulator to demonstrate how rain gardens and other forms of low impact development (LID) can help with flood control while bolstering native plant [...]
Source Water at The Farm Show: Protect Your Private Drinking Water!
Source Water at The Farm Show: Protect Your Private Drinking Water! From March 5th to 7th, the Thames Sydenham and Region Source Protection Region was represented at the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority's booth at the London Farm Show. We provided Public Health Ontario drinking water sample bottles for the public to test their private drinking water wells. If you own a private well, check out Public Health Ontario's website for information on where you can get free sample bottles to test your drinking water for free: Public Health Ontario provides testing for the presence of bacterial indicators of [...]
London Farm Show 2025
London Farm Show 2025 The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) hosted a booth at the London Farm Show from March 5th-7th. This year’s booth was themed around phosphorus reduction, showcasing best management practices to help prevent losses in phosphorus. Topics included water quality monitoring, cover crops, reduced tillage, and the restoration of marginal lands. Forestry staff from the UTRCA and other southwestern Ontario Conservation Authorities also hosted a booth at the Farm Show, promoting tree planting programs and forestry management. The London Farm Show is the largest indoor farm show in Eastern Canada, with over 15,000 visitors in [...]
P.A. Day Nature School Camp
P.A. Day Nature School Camp Wildwood Outdoor Education Centre and the Stratford Perth Museum hosted a wonderfully successful P.A. Day camp on January 31, 2025. 20 children from ages five to 12 attended the day hosted at the museum. The Wildwood team offered a morning of snowshoe skill-building, which included relay games and ended with a 30-minute hike through a beautiful wetland (and Low Impact Development project installed by the UTRCA) on the museum property. In the afternoon, the museum offered three historically themed activities for the participants. The first was a beekeeping discussion and a make-your-own beeswax candle followed by [...]
Funding still available for the Upper Thames Phosphorus Reduction Program!
Funding Still Available for the Upper Thames Phosphorus Reduction Program! The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) has a new program aimed at reducing phosphorus in the watershed. The Upper Thames Phosphorus Reduction Program supports landowners who implement agricultural best management practices that reduce phosphorus runoff, improve water quality in the Thames River and Lake Erie, while also boosting soil health and productivity on farms. The UTRCA is offering grants for a wide range of projects, including cover crops, reduced tillage, tree planting, erosion control, soil testing, and much more. If you already implemented these practices this past fall, [...]
UTRCA Board of Directors Elections
UTRCA Board of Directors Elections The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) Board of Directors held its annual elections at the January 28, 2025 Board meeting. Brian Petrie, Mayor of Ingersoll, stepped down after completing his two-year term. Den Trentowsky, Deputy Mayor of West Perth and Deputy Warden of Perth County, accepted the position of Chair having served as Vice-Chair since January, 2024. Other elections included: Vice Chair: Mark Schadenberg, Councillor City of Woodstock Source Water Protection Striking Committee/Committee Liaison: Sandy Levin, City of London Citizen Appointment Hearing Committee Dean Trentowsky, Deputy Mayor of West Perth and Deputy Warden [...]
Updating the Southern Ontario Floral Inventory Analysis (SOFIA)
Updating the Southern Ontario Floral Inventory Analysis (SOFIA) Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) staff have updated a unique open-source macro-enabled Microsoft Excel spreadsheet called SOFIA (Southern Ontario Floral Inventory Analysis). SOFIA was written by biologist/ecologist Dan Lebedyk and other staff at the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA) a few years ago. It was designed to allow botanists and ecologists to enter floral inventories of natural areas into a system that quickly tabulates, analyzes and automates the information. It generates statistics and charts on the quality of the site, as well as many other indices including wetness and rare [...]
Tree Sales for Private Landowners – Order Before March 1st
Tree Sales for Private Landowners - Order Before March 1st Private landowners in the Upper Thames River watershed can now order and pay for their trees online at the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA)’s shop site. Open until March 1st, 2025, this digital format allows landowners to conveniently browse and purchase a variety of coniferous, deciduous trees and wildlife shrubs to plant next spring. As always landowners are encouraged to order as soon as they are able for the best availability as some sizes and species sell out quickly. Trees are made available through the Tree Planting on [...]
Step Into Nature Art Contest
Step Into Nature Art Contest 2026 Do you have a budding artist or aspiring poet in your life? We're on the search for artwork to feature in this year's Step Into Nature booklet. This booklet is received by thousands of kids who visit our conservation areas each year. It includes fun nature facts, games, activity pages, and more, and we’re inviting young artists to help bring it to life again this year. Between Feb. 11th and 28th, 2026, children age 7-12 are invited to submit a drawing or poem about their favourite thing to do when visiting Fanshawe, [...]
Pittock Shoreline Wetland
Living Shoreline at Pittock Conservation Area Building shoreline resiliency was the focus of a recent Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks funded project within the Pittock Conservation Area. Staff from the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) enhanced approximately 350 metres of the Pittock Reservoir’s north shore through the addition of a new living shoreline which provides protection from erosion and creates aquatic habitat. Incorporating aquatic habitat into the project using fallen woody material and river stone offers additional benefits. Due to the nature of Pittock Reservoir's sandy soils, much of the reservoir's shoreline suffers [...]