Zurich Citizens News, 1970-06-25, Page 14PAGE FOURTEEN
ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 1970
Municipal Officials isit Conservati
Representatives of all the mun- Jummer and winter use. From near a community pond, at a
icipal council in Huron County 1965 to 1970 there has been ap- cost of approximately $4500.
were taken on a conducted tour ; proximately $140, 000. spent on After visiting the Listowel
of two Conservation Areas on the project. channel improvements, where
Monday, and saw w at has been From the Falls Reserve the about $100, 000 has been spent
faccomplished over a past few buses travelled through Saratoga to carry largers flows of water
years in the field oconservation.. Swamp area, which is being pro -and reduce flood threats, dinner
In the morning the t o busloads posed for a fish and wildlife man- was served to the entire group at
toured areas under the Maitland agement area. the Twin Oaks Hotel, George
Valley Conservation Authority, In Wingham the group were McCutcheon, chairman of the
and then in the afternoon they shown the Howson and Lower Maitland Authority, acted as
visited areas under the Ausable Wingham dams, with the adjacent guide for the tour to this point.
River Conservation Authority, parkland developed by the town Following dinner, the buses
Departing from Goderich at of Wingham. Total spent at the left for the Morrison Dam, loc-
about nine o'clock in the morn- sites is about $200, 000. ated east of Exeter. Chairman
ing, the groups were shown the From Wingham the tour moved of the Ausable Authority, Bill
Falls Reserve at Ben Miller, which over to the Wroxeter area, where Amos, explained that the dam
encompasses 230 acres, and was the head office of the authority was built in 1958, at a cost of
purchased in 1964 for the sum of is located. They viewed the $200, 000. and that the resevoir
$8500. There is a multi-purpose Gorrie Conservation Authority, covers about 28 acres. The dam
recreation area at the Ben Miller which is an excellent example provides a certain measure of
site, which is suitable for both of a small urban park developed flood control and helps to atm -
meat the low summer flow of the
Ausable. Surrounding the lake,
the authority owns an additional
50 acres which has been devel-
oped into a multi-purpose re-
creational area.
After the visit to Morrison Dam,
the group were taken to River-
view Park in Exeter. To date,
works in excess of $50, 000 have
been completed at Riverview
with Exeter's share of the cost
being less than $15, 000.
Leaving Exeter the tour travel-
led through several miles of Hay
swamp, which belongs to the
Ausable Authority. Since 1952
the Authority has purchased 2, 000
acres of reforestration land in Hay,
and presently the property is be-
ing managed by the Department
of Lands and Forests.
Next spot of interest to the
group was the Ausable River in
Grand Bend, where the authority
has begun an Erosion Control Pro-
ject. To date two 180 foot sect-
ions of gabion retaining wall have
been completed, with only about
four feet of the wall showing above
the water line. The purpose of
this wall is to protect the toe of
the bank where the erosion orig-
inates.
Probably the most interesting
spot on the entire tour was the
Parkhill Dam, which was compl-
eted in 1969 after 10 years of plan-
ning. The entire project encomp-
assed about 1900 acres. Presently
under construction at Parkhill is
a 75 site camping area and wash-
rooms, with improvements also
scheduled for the beach area.
Last winter several miles of
snowmobiles trailed through the
(Continued on page 15)
VIEWING FALLS RESERVE AT BEN MILLER
FIRST BUS STOP AT WINGHAM
READY TO LEAVE FOR MORRISON DAM
OFFICIALS VIEW EROSION AT GRAND BEND
TOUR GUIDE EXPLAINS PROJECT AT GRAND BEND
A BEAUTIFUL LAKE AT PARKHILL