Introduction

Watch this dramatic introduction video that outlines the beauty of Catfish Creek!

Environmental Leadership Program

East Elgin Secondary School

Catfish Creek Assessment and Rehabilitation

Ontario- The State of our Rivers, Creeks and Streams

Ontario stretches over 1500 km from the Great Lakes to Hudson Bay and over 1500 km east to west, totaling over 1 million sq/km. Within that area there are over 50 cold water watersheds and more than 260 streams with migratory runs of trout and salmon. Historically management consisted of stocking and controlling harvest. Unfortunately, little attention was paid to the damage that was occurring to the streams themselves. Damming, draining, channelizing, dredging and filling were the major activities altering their habitats. Not only was water being removed but nutrients, sediments and contaminants were being added. At the time, channelization and drainage work were considered stream improvement and trout streams were being improved to transport water, but they were losing their capacity to produce healthy fish populations. In the mid 1970’s the Ministry of Natural Resources developed a strategy to reverse this trend. Trees and shrubs were planted along banks to lower temperatures, eroding stream banks were stabilized to reduce sediment loading and fishways were built to allow migratory fish to get to their spawning areas.

Locally, the Catfish Creek Conservation Authority and the Environmental Leadership Program has been developing plans and rehabilitating sections of Catfish Creek for the last 20 years. Under the Guidance of CCCA, students are taught how to asses, evaluate and classify sections of Catfish Creek. The first step in any management plan is to determine what you have! Dissolved oxygen levels, flow rates, Ph and temperature are calculated and recorded. Students also determine stream depths, widths, substrate, buffer width and % of overhanging vegetation. Invertebrates are also sampled to help determine to overall health of the system.

The second part of the project is to research and determine the conditions needed to support healthy cold-water fish populations. With this information students then research the strategies of rehabilitation and devise a plan. How can we take what we have today and make it like we had in the past?  Under the guidance of the Catfish Creek Conservation Authority, students learn the strategies and techniques of stream rehabilitation. How do you increase flow and dissolved oxygen? What can be done to decrease temperature, erosion and sedimentation? When is the best time to put the plan in place?

The final step is to carry out the plan. Once funding is secured, the ELP students work closely with the CCCA to implement the desired strategies. The goal is to gradually improve the overall health of the Catfish Creek Watershed. Develop plans, implement strategies and cooperatively work to reduce the agricultural, industrial and urban stresses of our past.