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 [...]

ONFARM Program Continues Through 2028  The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) is supporting the second phase of the On-Farm Applied Research and Monitoring (ONFARM) program. As part of this initiative, the UTRCA is collecting year-round water samples to understand the effects of Beneficial Management Practices (BMPs) on water quality. The water quality component of the ONFARM program specifically examines cover cropping, controlled drainage, fertilizer application, and/or tillage impacts across multiple sites. Additionally, this data will be paired with long-term soil health trials, facilitating a more comprehensive understanding of BMP impacts at the edge-of-field scale. The program is funded [...]

2,000 People Attend EarthFest in 2024  On April 20, the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) participated in London’s third annual EarthFest celebration. Located at the London Public Library Centre Branch and Citi Plaza, the festival welcomed over 2,000 attendees! Visitors were able to wander through the interactive displays put together by the over 80 exhibitors and artists that showcased local approaches to sustainability, ecological justice, and the protection and health of our planet. The UTRCA served on the festival’s steering committee and coordinated the festival’s WaterZone area which included displays by the Council of Canadians, Antler River Rally, [...]

1,700 Acres of Cover Crops Planted This Past fall The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) allocated funding for 1,700 acres of cover crops planted across the watershed this past fall. This funding assistance targeted fields with either winter-killed cover crops like oats or overwintering varieties such as cereal rye. These initiatives are geared towards increasing cover crop adoption as well as enhancing existing funding opportunities for producers in the watershed who utilize cover crops to mitigate sediment and nutrient loss. They also promote soil health. Funding was provided by the Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk (CNFASAR) [...]