Article by Matt Driscoll

Running from its headwaters in Algonquin Park to the shores of Georgian Bay, through more than 40 dams and criss-crossing over a dozen municipal jurisdictions, the Muskoka River watershed is perhaps the region's defining feature.

For the past several years, like-minded groups in Muskoka have been gradually moving towards the creation of an integrated watershed management plan. Such a plan would incorporate the management of human activities and natural resources together on a watershed basis. The goal is to take into consideration the connected interests and needs of the environment, economy and society to protect Muskoka’s watershed.

“Integrated watershed management plans have been developed and implemented by different groups and organizations all across North America, Europe and even in third world countries but not here in Muskoka,” says Kevin Trimble of the Muskoka Watershed Council. “The drivers of an integrated watershed management plan can vary. They can be focused on water quality or forestry or commercial fisheries or a number of other factors. Here in Muskoka, it can be a little more difficult to see those drivers. People come to Muskoka and they see the watershed and everything looks rosy but there are trends which are disturbing and difficult to see.”

According to Trimble, who has more than 30 years of experience in watershed ecology, the Muskoka watershed stands at a crucial turning point. While currently healthy, the watershed is degrading in several ways and the existing management systems appear to be incapable of halting or reversing the negative trend.

“We need an integrated watershed management system capable of dealing with the multiple stressors our iconic environment now faces,” Trimble states.

The District of Muskoka and several local groups formed the Muskoka Watershed Council. The Watershed Council has now taken the reins on the creation of an integrated watershed management plan. The current focus is on education and awareness and Trimble stresses they are only at the initial stages of creating a plan that will take years to complete.

“Right now, we're working on engagement with Non-government organization and other community groups as well as First Nations and municipalities to try and generate as much interest as possible,” says Trimble.

One of the Watershed Council’s immediate goals is to emphasize the cross-municipal nature of watershed impacts. They hope to continue to engage the community via a community round table tasked to establish a common vision and goals for all sectors concerning the health of the watershed economy and community.

Trimble says by early 2025 they would like to have a governance structure in place before professionally scoping their plan. The end goal would be to have a working plan in two to three years.

The Muskoka River Watershed is facing a number of different pressures ranging from increased development and climate change to the effects of road salt and management of invasive species. The watershed management plan must be informed by science and include the management of natural resources and human activities in conjunction. It must also consider the needs and interests of not only the environment but also the economy and society.

While many of the stressors are invisible to the casual observer, one growing concern that is painfully obvious is flooding. The region has been hit with significant flooding events on multiple occasions over the past decade, most notably in 2019.

Flooding creates emergency situations which often lead to knee-jerk reactions from the municipalities and property owners affected. Trimble cites a request to the province this year demanding the Muskoka River Water Management Plan be opened up for quick flooding fixes, as one such reaction that is unhelpful in the long run.

“It's a backward and economically unsound way to fix our problems,” says Trimble.

The root causes of the flooding may begin in areas far outside the municipality's jurisdiction.

The Watershed Council has been visiting various municipalities in the region to spread the word on an integrated watershed management plan but with 13 lower-tier municipalities located in the Muskoka watershed, logistics are complicated. Muddying the waters further, 12 of those municipalities have multiple watersheds within their geographic area.

In most other parts of Ontario where an integrated watershed management plan exists, it has been designed and implemented by a conservation authority, an organization that does not currently exist in Muskoka.

“Those plans have typically been created in more of a top-down fashion and we really want to do this as a collaboration,” says Trimble.

In 2019, the Muskoka Watershed Advisory Group (MWAG) was created to advise the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks on watershed issues including integrated watershed management.

In 2020 MWAG provided a report to the Ministry highlighting the different issues facing the Muskoka River watershed. The following year the province announced $5 million to help fund 16 projects across the watershed. Twelve of those projects were within the District of Muskoka and primarily under the lead of the upper-tier municipality in partnership with the Muskoka Watershed Council.

Glen Cunnington was brought on by the District of Muskoka shortly after their announcement as their watershed programs manager to help implement those 12 projects.

“Through those projects we've been able to accumulate a considerable amount of information and now we can act on it,” says Cunnington, who holds a PhD in road ecology and a master’s degree in watershed ecology.

Among the more interesting findings was an improved watershed mapping strategy which revealed a previously unseen 95,000 hectares of wetland in addition to previously unknown wildlife habitats. Cunnington explains the consultants were able to discover the new wetlands by taking the existing aerial photos from the District's Geohub program and using AI and other technologies to further study indicators such as ground cover. The consultants then followed up with “ground-truthing,” wherein they follow up the digital imaging with boots on the ground.

“We found there was a very high success rate,” Cunnington shares. “We can now take that information and incorporate it into things like our official plan to reflect the mapping.”

Other projects included a baseline hydrology model that incorporates the ecological structure and dynamics of the Muskoka River Watershed and characterizes its functions. That includes how floods originate and how they're distributed across the watershed, the cost-benefit analysis of watershed management actions and the influence of climate change and land use on flood potential.

Other projects included expanded floodplain mapping, a water management plan review scoping study and an examination of watershed-scale flood mitigation options.

The district hired a new staff member this year to help follow through on some of the initiatives laid out as part of those 12 projects. Cunnington says that information could be used to help create an integrated watershed management plan when the time comes.

“Each watershed is unique and one of the things that makes Muskoka unique is the topography and variations in landscape,” Cunnington says. “We have areas that are very hilly and steep in the north down to flat areas near Georgian Bay. That changes how the water moves through the area and can create pinch points which can cause problems with flooding.”

Trimble says nature-based green solutions to help decrease flooding are currently being reviewed. As part of an integrated watershed management plan, those solutions would likely include working on wetlands in one region of the watershed to help prevent flooding in another.

Another key difference with Muskoka is, unlike in southern Ontario where the majority of the wetlands have been lost to development and agriculture, the majority of Muskoka's wetlands remain intact. The watershed consists of 15 sub-watersheds stretching over 5,100 square kilometres emptying into southeastern Georgian Bay. The 2,000-plus lakes in the watershed are home to 30 different species of fish, 250 different species of birds, 50 species of mammals and 35 species of reptiles and amphibians.

The Muskoka Conservancy currently protects 56 different properties in the area, including some 64,279 feet of riparian area, also known as shoreline area. Scott Young, executive director of the Muskoka Conservancy, shares that the Conservancy fully supports the work of the Watershed Council.

“Muskoka Conservancy’s nature conservation activities include protecting over 4,600 acres (18.6 square km) of land including wetlands and natural shorelines that absorb snow melt and rainwater like giant sponges slowing the flow and mitigating potential flooding,” says Young.

Many of those land holdings are protected because they feature habitats for species at risk, like Blanding’s turtle, Canada warbler and five-lined skink. They also protect key ecosystems for iconic Muskoka species like the common loon, moose, and black bear.

“Muskoka would not be what it is without nature,” comments Young. “Protecting natural areas is essential work for the overall watershed health of Muskoka and we’re interested in any measures that help protect the unique, natural assets that define Muskoka. We’re happy to note that many Muskoka residents understand we have something here worth protecting and support for the Conservancy and other environmental organizations remains strong.”

An integrated watershed management plan for Muskoka is likely still years away but organizations like the Muskoka Watershed Council stand behind the belief that such a plan is a necessity to maintain the integrity of our local waterways and ecosystem. To that end, the Muskoka Watershed Council and their partners say they will continue to push the agenda forward while drawing in the help of the many organizations, businesses and municipalities that depend on a healthy watershed.