Ontario Construction News staff writer
The Ontario government is partnering with Ducks Unlimited Canada to enhance and restore approximately 60 local wetlands across the province over the next year as part of a five-year, $30 million Wetlands Conservation Partner Program.
Ducks Unlimited Canada is receiving $6 million for projects that will help improve water quality, preserve and increase habitats for endangered species, help prevent flooding and build climate change resiliency in the Lake Ontario and Lake Erie watersheds and connecting waterways.
The projects led by Ducks Unlimited Canada include approximately 40 wetland restoration projects for large-scale, permanent wetlands, and 20 small wetland projects – all of which contribute to climate resiliency and green jobs in Ontario’s rural and near-urban communities.
In Atocas Bay, near Hawkesbury, wetland infrastructure is being enhanced to help mitigate flood risk and support climate resiliency for the communities in the Ottawa River watershed.
Two new wetlands have been added to Elgin County, in collaboration with the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority, with others underway in the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority, designed to capture and filter surface water before it enters Lake Erie.
St. Luke’s Marsh, near Chatham-Kent, where enhancing the rare coastal wetlands will support local biodiversity and wildlife, as well as short and long-term benefits to downstream waterbodies, including Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie.
Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is working on wetland restoration projects that contribute to healthy landscapes and green jobs in Southern Ontario. Demand for wetland restoration is at an all-time high as Ontario landowners connect healthy landscapes with clean water and flood management for their communities.
“The farming community has embraced wetland restoration. We have a wait list for projects and that enthusiasm is bringing much-needed scale to wetland restoration in Southern Ontario. We’re making it happen with local working partners who help us restore the natural infrastructure of communities and support green jobs.” Lynette Mader, manager of provincial operations for Ontario, Ducks Unlimited Canada