improving grades in medway creek

Students know that it takes hard work and persistence to get straight A’s. That’s the challenge faced by the Medway Creek Watershed, a 185 sq. km. area running from Granton to London. In a recent “Watershed Report Card” prepared by the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA), the Medway’s surface water quality earned a C and the forest conditions were ranked as a D. Thanks to London Community Foundation, help is on the way.

Several years ago, the Foundation designated environmental health as one of its strategic granting areas. Since then the Environmental Health Subcommittee has funded a variety of projects focused on water and air quality. This year, UTRCA sought support for a “Community-based Watershed Strategy” on Medway Creek. “We know we have some challenging environmental issues there,” explains Teresa Hollingsworth, Coordinator, Community and Corporate Services for UTRCA. “We also know there are people who live in the watershed and want to do things to make their properties more environmentally friendly.”

A “community-based strategy” is one that combines UTRCA’s knowledge of environmental science with the local knowledge and perspectives of people living in the area. Says Hollingsworth: “We tell them what we know about the watershed, and then we ask what we missed. We get an enormous amount of information, and we also identify people who have a real connection to the watershed.”

The grant from London Community Foundation will be leveraged by applying for a variety of other government and foundation grants. Work on the plan has already begun and a public meeting will be next. A local advisory committee of volunteers will guide the process as it moves forward. The goal is to have an action plan within a year, and then begin doing restoration work. That might include removing some weirs or small dams, creating “riffles” in the creek with carefully placed rocks to increase oxygenation, or improving drainage in the floodplain. Students at schools in the watershed will be involved in hands-on activities as the project proceeds.

“It’s wonderful working with the Foundation,” Hollingsworth says. “They are so sincere about understanding what we’re trying to do. We simply couldn’t take this on and do it right without them.”

London Community Foundation