Greetings!

I hope that you have been enjoying your summer. On August 21st, we will be having a benthic workshop at Scout Valley. All water monitors and Couchiching Conservancy staff have been invited to attend. It is a unique opportunity to get a close up look at the bugs and little critters that live in the water. All of the information that you need can be found in the newsletter below.

Also in this newsletter, you will find information about benthic organisms, species identification, updates on activities around Sundial Creek (Grant Wetland), and new Couchiching Conservancy merch.

If you have any questions, or would like to arrange a time to pick up a water test kit you can reach me at aiesha@couchconservancy.ca


Thanks,

Aiesha
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Benthic Workshop
On August 21, our summer staff, Carsten and Quinlan and hosting a Benthic Workshop at Scout Valley. Here are the details:

When: Aug 21 @ 1 pm
Where: Meet at Scout Valley Regan House Parking lot: 325 Line 15 N Orillia, ON L3V 6H1
Photo: An ice cube try is used to separate benthic organisms by species (D. Hangaard.)
Benthics and Fish
The monitoring form has a section that asks how many benthic organisms and fish you saw. These species present can be helpful indicators of water quality. But what is a benthic organism?

Benthic Macroinvertebrates are small aquatic animals without backbones who live in the sediment, on plants, logs and other substrate in water. This aquatic includes clams, worms, crayfish, aquatic nymph stages of insects, and more.

Interested in identifying species that you come across while water monitoring? Try out these apps:

iNaturalist - upload photos or sound clips
Merlin - sound identification
Seek - photo identification
Photo: This brook trout was caught near a nature reserve in Orillia. (C. Stewart). Note: Please do not fish or handle aquatic organisms on the nature reserves.
Stormwater Infrastructure in the news
Orillia Matters posted an article about new stormwater infrastructure that is being installed in Orillia's Centennial Drive area. Runoff water will collect in specialized pipes, allowing contaminants to settle to the bottom and cleaner water will then flow into Lake Couchiching.

The placement of these structures is dictated by Orillia's stormwater management plan.

The Couchiching Conservancy is working on a water quality report for the Grant Wetland/Sundial Creek area to help the city make informed decisions about future stormwater infrastructure projects in that area.
New Beaver Baffle at Grant Wetland
Beaver dams can cause flooding and property damage and, sometimes, we need to prevent that. The best solution is often installing beaver baffles. This allows the beavers to remain in the habitat assuming their important role and also prevents damaging flooding by ensuring that some water continues to flow. Try as they might, the beavers cannot figure out how to stop it and are baffled.

Read more about the new beaver baffle at Grant Wetland, and other notes from the field here.
Merch
We now use a platform called Redbubble for our merchandise. Pick the design of your liking and then you get to choose what to put it on!
Photo: Aiesha, Madeleine, and Alysha model the new Conservancy merch (C. Baker)
I am Aiesha Aggarwal, the Conservation Analyst at the Couchiching Conservancy. If you have any questions about Landscape, EdApp or the water monitoring program, I would be happy to help you out!

Phone: 705-238-1811
You are receiving this email because you are a Water monitor with The Couchiching Conservancy. Please let us know if things have changed and you can no longer volunteer, or do not wish to receive these emails. 
The Couchiching Conservancy | couchichingconserv.ca