iWetland is a project which focuses on wetland research, stewardship, and community outreach in the Georgian Bay Biosphere Mnidoo Gamii (GBB), a UNESCO Biosphere in Ontario, Canada. The GBB is the world’s largest freshwater archipelago and is comprised a mosaic of wetlands, forests, and open rock barrens. The region is host to several reptile species at risk (SAR), including several freshwater turtle species, and Ontario's only venomous snake, the Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus).

All of these species rely on wetland habitat for various critical life stages including hibernation and nesting. Therefore, it is important we understand the properties and behaviour of wetland habitat to help conserve critical habitat, and potentially develop new guidelines for habitat reclamation.

The hydroperiod (timing and magnitude of water level fluctuations) in wetlands plays an important role for determining habitat suitability for reptile SAR. A pilot project was initiated in 2016 to assess the suitability of using crowd-sourced data to monitor water level over a portion of the GBB.

For updates and outreach events, check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/iWetland

To see all water levels, click here. See below for a sample from some of our sites.