That’s a Wrap for the 2024 City Nature Challenge  The second annual City Nature Challenge has ended, and the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) was thrilled to once again be partners! Over the four days of the challenge, Londoners made 4,135 observations of species in London using iNaturalist, resulting in 3rd place in Ontario and 9th in Canada – way to go London!  To help Londoners learn how to use iNaturalist, take good photos, and encourage participation in the challenge, the UTRCA hosted a “How to use iNaturalist” webinar. If you missed the webinar, you can watch the [...]

Gunn’s Hill LP Provides $20,000 for Hodge's Pond Trail Improvements in 2024 For the last nine years, the Cedar Creek Collaborative, made up of the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA), County of Oxford, Stewardship Oxford, and Oxford County Trails Council, has been working on Cedar Creek enhancements, wetland building, forestry projects, and trail building on the Hodge’s Pond Property south of Woodstock. The work has been supported by a variety of funding sources, federal and provincial agencies, corporate funds, and private donations. Constant through it all has been Gunn’s Hill Limited Partnership, a green energy partnership that operates the [...]

24 Years Since the Walkerton Tragedy 24 years ago, a severe bacterial contamination of municipal water in Walkerton, Ontario led to the worst public health crisis involving Canadian municipal water. The incident resulted in the deaths of seven people and caused illness in over 2,300 individuals. The Government of Ontario initiated a public inquiry into the tragic incident the following month. Conservation Ontario provided recommendations to the Walkerton inquiry with a focus on improvements that included watershed management to protect drinking water supply.   In response to the Walkerton inquiry, Justice O'Connor issued 121 recommendations covering various aspects of [...]

UTRCA lends a hand at Children’s Water Festival  Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) staff helped out at the St Thomas Elgin Children's Water Festival which was held on May 14 through 17 at Pinafore Park in St Thomas. Approximately 3,200 students in grades 2 through 5 visited the festival to learn about water in their communities, water conservation and water science.   The Perth Children’s Water Festival will be held on Sunday, May 26th, 2024 from 1:00 PM – 4:00PM in Memorial Park in Listowel. In 2025, the festival will be held in May at Pittock Conservation Area in Woodstock. [...]

Celebrate the Medway Community Event  You are invited to a free community event taking place on Saturday, June 8th from 10 am – 2 pm at the Museum of Ontario Archaeology located at 1600 Attawandaron Road in London!  This event is geared towards all ages and is completely free to attend! Activities will include:   Free admission to the Museum of Ontario Archaeology  Community pollinator garden planting   Litter clean-up  Birds of Prey shows  Drumming circle  Community art activity  Guided hikes through the Medway Valley Heritage Forest  Benthic invertebrate tank (learn more about aquatic Species at Risk in the Medway!)  Insect exploration [...]

UTRCA at Go Wild Grow Wild event  After a five-year hiatus, the Go Wild Grow Wild Green Expo was held on Saturday, May 4, 2024, at the Agriplex in London, and Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) staff participated as exhibitors.   The event was hosted by Carolinian Canada who refers to the expo as “the largest, wildest, greenest, most adventurous event series in Ontario's far South.” They unveiled their new name and branding for the show, Hope in the Land Expo, along with a new logo created by Indigenous artist Nyle Miigizi Johnston.  Visitors to the UTRCA booth learned [...]

60th Anniversary of the Provincial Water Quality Monitoring Network June 10th, 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP)’s Provincial Water Quality Monitoring Network (PWQMN). The PWQMN measures water quality in rivers and streams across Ontario to track changes in water quality over time. Since 1964, Ontario’s Conservation Authorities, including the Upper Thames Conservation Authority (UTRCA), have worked collaboratively with PWQMN partners to collect monthly water samples at over 400 locations across Ontario. In the Upper Thames River watershed, there are 24 active water quality stations that are sampled from March through [...]

Landon Library Displays Student Posters about Helping Species at Risk  The grade 6 and 7 GREEN Leaders class at Tecumseh Public School chose species at risk (SAR) as their environmental issue this year. The students have been working hard at researching the different SAR in the watershed and creating informational posters to help inform the public. They would like to educate the community on the things they can do to help these species survive and thrive into the future.   Below are a couple of posters created by the students. If you would like to learn more about our [...]

Rotary Club of Stratford Aims to Increase Tree Canopy Along Avon Trail  The City of Stratford is getting greener thanks to members of the Rotary Club of Stratford' Environment Committee. Members of the committee planted nine Black Cherry trees along a Stratford portion of the Avon Trail where a number of mature trees had been destroyed by beavers. The Avon Trail is a 130 km hiking trail from St. Marys to Conestoga.   The Committee has taken on a number of environmental issues including efforts to increase the tree canopy through Perth County. Planting trees to increase the tree [...]

UTRCA Leads Primary Outreach Program to Embrace the Outdoors Over the winter, Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) education staff collaborated with three schools from the London District Catholic School Board to provide a Kindergarten Primary Outreach Program. These programs are designed to show teachers how their outdoor space could be used to teach math, language and science. As part of the program, UTRCA staff also created outdoor learning kits for each school to help teachers incorporate the natural materials and spaces into their teaching.  These kits included multi-purpose items that can help with sensory exploration, counting, creativity and [...]