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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-04-18, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2013.ABCA releases second-ever watershed report card State of the watershed Mari Veliz, Healthy Watersheds Co-ordinator for the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority recently spoke at the authority’s annual conservation awards ceremony where she presented the year’s watershed report card. It will be at least five years before a report card like the one released earlier this year will be released again. (Photo submitted) Writer defends turbine protest Fire Marshal again stresses importance of smoke alarms The Ausable BayfieldConservation Authority (ABCA) hasreleased its second Watershed Report Card. The document reports on five years of environmental monitoring to let people know the state of groundwater and surface water quality, wetland cover and forest conditions in their watershed. This is the second time the local conservation authority has prepared a report card of this kind. It will be at least five years until the next one is published. “The Ausable Bayfield Watershed Report Card 2013 provides an opportunity to present environmental information to the community to help people, community groups, and agencies to protect and enhance our local water, wetland and forest resources,” said Mari Veliz, Healthy Watersheds Co- ordinator with the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA).“The 2013 grades suggest this is awatershed where improvements are needed but the report card also shows that improvement can occur and can be measured.” Veliz spoke about the new report card in a public talk as part of the Conservation Awards held on March 21 near Exeter. Veliz said some of the improvements measured in the document likely reflect some of the changes made and project actions taken by area landowners and communities. “We need to continue to recognize that positive actions have started to make a difference and new actions continue to make positive change,” she said. Landowners, residents and community groups interested in the local watershed report card can find it online at abca.on.ca The Watershed Report Card includes individual report cardscompleted for 16 local watersheds inthe area served by Ausable Bayfield Conservation. These watersheds include the Bayfield River (three watersheds), Ausable River (eight watersheds), Parkhill Creek (two watersheds), Mud Creek and smaller Lake Huron watersheds (two areas). Grades from 2013 were compared between watersheds and with the Watershed Report Card 2007. Highlights of the report card include: • Forest conditions remain low in the Ausable Bayfield watersheds. Grades range from A to D, with most watersheds receiving a D grade. • Wetland cover in the Ausable Bayfield watersheds is also limited. Grades range from B to F, with most watersheds receiving F grades. More wetlands are needed in strategic locations across the watersheds, according to the ABCA.• Surface water quality measuredat Ministry of the Environment and ABCA stations, has remained steady for most watersheds. Grades ranged from A to D, with the majority of watersheds receiving C grades. Compared with the Watershed Report Card 2007, in which only one watershed met the recreational guideline for E. coli, eight watersheds now meet this guideline. Furthermore, two watersheds (Bannockburn and Main Bayfield) have had measurable improvement in the concentrations of total phosphorus and E. coli. • Groundwater quality measured at Ministry of the Environment monitoring wells in the Ausable Bayfield area is generally good. Several wells, however, tend to approach the drinking water standard for nitrate and the guideline for chloride, and therefore receivedless than an A grade. (Differenttypes of aquifers exist throughout the region and ABCA reminds you the quality of your well water may vary from that of the provincial monitoring wells.) • Protecting and improving watershed health will require different approaches. These include actions individuals can take on their properties, community actions, and actions by agencies. Each local watershed report card suggests positive actions that each of these groups can take. When these actions are implemented together, they will have positive cumulative effects, according to ABCA. For more information on the Ausable Bayfield Watershed Report Card 2013 visit abca.on.ca or call 519-235-2610 or toll-free 1-888- 286-2610. The office of the Fire Marshal (OFM) has confirmed that there was a delay in the detection of the fatal fire that occurred at 72 Howard Avenue in Sharon (East Gwillimbury). Four family members tragically perished in the March 29 fire. Preliminary findings have revealed that the fire originated on the home’s main floor, in the laundry room. As the fire developed, smoke and flames were drawn up a large central staircase to the second storey – trapping the family in the master bedroom. When a family member made the 911 call, the fire conditions on the home’s main floor had already blocked all avenues of escape. The delay in the detection of this fire can be attributed to two factors. First, the lack of a smoke alarm on the main floor, and two, while there was a security/fire alarm system in the home that provided coverage for the second storey and basement; this system’s wiring ran through the main floor laundry area where the fire originated. The OFM team has established this wiring was compromised early in the fire and this would have rendered the entire system inoperable. The scene examination phase of the fire investigation has concluded. However, several forensic THE EDITOR, While Citizen reporter Denny Scott may have learned a new word by playing video games, it appears that he needs the “app” that teaches its proper usage. This, because he seems confused about the identity of the real “zealot” in the green energy battle. Denny should know that we have had this pestilence of wind and solar energy inflicted upon us by some of the most misguided and subversive zealotry ever witnessed in Ontario. Never before has such an ill- founded, draconian swindle been forced upon the people of the province by a government of any stripe. Rabid ideology that is forced upon the population is zealotry. It might take a few more years of dealing in reality before the true zealots are recognized – but it will happen. Sadly enough, it may not occur before the wallets of the subjugated taxpayers have been looted, enriching those who have sacrificed principles for profits in a manner that shames the world’s oldest profession. It is green zealots that have created both the enablers and the exploiters of this “green” thievery, selling out the public for their own gratification. All this happened at the whim of a despotic, zealot government that has completely stripped the municipalities of any benefit or control over the imposition of industrial wind turbines or photovoltaic systems within their jurisdictions. (It’s a cold comfort that the municipalities are being bribed with their own taxpayers’ money to ease the pain). Therefore, the protest that Denny witnessed is actually a healthy and necessary response to this undisguised, dictatorial assault on democracy. Get used to it; it will not lessen. Even those with sparse knowledge of political history understand that when the voice of a disenfranchised people is incessantly suppressed, unpleasant actions inevitably follow. However undesirable this “incivility” may be, a government that ignores rule of law eventually precipitates an equal reaction from the people over whom they exercise their despotism. Therefore, Denny should see legitimate protest as the budding of an ominous trend which will persist until the real zealots are exposed and deposed. And he cannot change this by pushing a button. John Schwartzentruber, Brussels. WATCH FOR THE 2013 PHONE BOOK THIS THURSDAY! The 2013 Phone Book will be delivered in the Flyer Package this Thursday, April 18 to all homes in the following areas. The Citizen 2013PHONEBOOK Photo courtesy Sandra Nicholson Just Beyond the For e s t E d g e Photography 2013PHONEBOOK The Citizen LISTINGS FOR: LISTINGS FOR: • AUBURN • BLYTH • BRUSSELS • CLINTON • GODERICH • GORRIE • LISTOWEL • WINGHAM • AUBURN • BLYTH • BRUSSELS • CLINTON • GODERICH • GORRIE • LISTOWEL • WINGHAM Subscribers beyond this area may pick up a free copy of the 2013 Phone Book at either the Brussels or Blyth office. Anyone wanting additional Phone Books can pick them up at $1.00 each at either the Brussels or Blyth office after April 26. Auburn and rural routes Blyth and rural routes Brussels and rural routes Belgrave and rural route Bluevale and rural routes Ethel and rural route Londesborough and rural route Walton and rural routes Wingham — rural routes 3, 4, 5 only Letter to the Editor Continued on page 22