Tree Planting on Medway Creek Thanks to Home Hardware and Tree Canada On October 27, UTRCA staff worked with grade 7 and 8 students from London Christian Elementary School to plant trees on a property just north of Arva on Medway Creek. Almost 120 native tree species were planted, including red oak, black cherry, sugar maple, black walnut, bur oak, hackberry, red maple, and white pine. Although the day started out rainy and cold, the sun came out as soon as the students arrived and stayed throughout the planting! Overall, we had 27 students, along with staff and parent [...]

First Extended Season a Success!  This fall the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) offered a new Extended Season providing an additional six weeks of Day Use access to Fanshawe and Wildwood Conservation Areas (CAs).  The expanded access to the CAs has been very well received with hundreds of day users visiting them each week. There is still time to take advantage of the Extended Season as it runs until the end of November.   Here’s what you need to know:  The new Extended Season for Day Use at our CAs is effective Monday, October 16 to Thursday, November 30,  [...]

GIS Day 2023 at Western University  The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) participated in Western University’s GIS Day on November 15th, displaying GIS (Geographic Information Systems) expertise used in various projects at the open-house event hosted by Western Libraries. The event brought students, colleagues, and community leaders together showcasing the latest in GIS products and applications. UTRCA staff brought our Flood Hazard Water Table, teaching attendees about the importance of flood hazard mapping and planning in our watershed. The watershed report cards were also on display. This was our 5th consecutive year participating in the event and we hope [...]

Blue Jays and Acorns  In fall, acorns begin to drop from oak trees. It is amazing to think that this little nut may someday grow into a mighty oak.   However, not all the seeds are viable. Some may become infested with a fungus or acorn weevils which lay their eggs inside the acorn. When the eggs hatch, the growing larvae feed on the nut.   To determine viability, acorns can be dropped into a bucket of water and those that sink have a fairly good chance of germinating.  It is reasonable to think the energetic squirrel is the biggest distributor [...]

UTRCA Hosts LID Workshop On October 18th, the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) in collaboration with the University of Western Ontario Water Centre hosted a half day workshop on “Storm Water Management (SWM) Low Impact Development (LID) Operation and Maintenance” at the UTRCA Watershed Conservation Centre (WCC). Fifty six people attended the workshop which included staff from consulting engineering firms, municipalities, local conservation authorities, First Nations and graduate students. The workshop included an outdoor session highlighting the LID features at the WCC and indoor presentations by Dr. Clare Robinson from Western University, Bill Trenouth from AECOM (London office), [...]

Groundwater Sampling is Underway with the Addition of Pesticides Sampling October and November are very busy months for the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) staff who are out sampling groundwater throughout the watershed. This fall, 22 of the 28 Provincial Groundwater Monitoring Network (PGMN) wells are being sampled. PGMN was developed in 2001 in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP). The program was designed to collect ambient groundwater quality and quantity data. PGMN monitors low water conditions and site and aquifer specific groundwater quality. All wells in the PGMN have data loggers installed in them [...]

Don’t Fear the Foam!  From time to time there is unsightly foam flowing down the river or accumulating along the shoreline in the Upper Thames River watershed. If you have every experienced this, you may have immediately thought this was some chemical flowing down the waterway. In a majority of situations, the foam is a natural phenomenon.  What causes foam?   Natural foam is composed of dissolved organic matter, specifically dissolved organic carbon that has come from decomposing plants. The natural die off of vegetation releases the organic materials plants are composed of, including oils, and the buildup of these [...]

Savanna Restoration Project Update  A project to transition a stagnant pine stand next to the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA)’s Watershed Conservation Centre parking lot into a diverse pine-oak savanna and tallgrass prairie habitat is progressing nicely.  The pine stand consisted of spindly 40-year-old pines that were planted too densely and had stagnant growth. Invasive plants such as Chinese Elm, Russian Olive, and buckthorn had spread throughout the area. On the plus side, native tallgrass prairie grasses had self-seeded into openings in the pine plantation from an adjacent plot. This indicated a prairie or savanna was a better [...]

Give Endangered Turtles a Chance at Survival this Giving Tuesday Protect Reptiles At Risk Southern Ontario’s native reptiles need your help now. They have been suffering drastic population declines due to many threats including poaching, climate change, predation, road traffic, and more. You can be a part of their recovery by supporting the conservation efforts of Southern Ontario At Risk Reptiles (SOARR)! SOARR is one of the longest running and most successful reptile conservation programs in Canada and takes direct conservation action for endangered wildlife including Spotted Turtles, Blanding’s Turtles, Spiny Softshell Turtles, Eastern Hog-nosed [...]