When is the time to invest in the environment?

By Geoff Ross. In discussions on public policy, we routinely hear the argument that a thriving economy is the priority, whereas investing in a healthy environment should await better economic times. But over the past 50 years of good and bad economic times, I have never heard these same voices say that now is the […]

Might living smarter in Muskoka mean measuring time like a lake?

By Norman Yan. Time is actually a tricky concept. Wikipedia defines it as “the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present and into the future.” OK, so metaphorically, time is the performance of life’s play on the stage of space. It’s what links cause to effect, […]

The Muskoka we want should not be the Muskoka of yesteryear.

The challenge we face in Muskoka is that we want to retain this healthy natural environment while also allowing for continued growth. By Peter Sale. Over the past six months, Muskoka Watershed Council has provided a series of weekly articles at MuskokaRegion.com on the theme, First Steps on the Path to Integrated Watershed Management. In these articles we […]

How to protect nature in Muskoka when there are governments promoting ‘environmental stewardship’ while approving ‘shoreline-altering developments’.

By Bet Smith. After a long, hard winter rife with emergency-level weather events, spring has finally come. Birdsong fills the air, leaves and blossoms emerge from winter’s barren branches, and we are reassured that all is not lost. Enter the throngs of tourists, the traffic, the chaos of cottage country. Sometimes it feels like Muskoka […]

You mean one problem isn’t enough?

How the cumulative effects of multiple stressors impact the Muskoka Watershed. By Neil Hutchinson. Over my fifty-year career as an aquatic scientist, I have witnessed and taken part in significant improvements in how we manage our human influences on the environment. We have successfully managed phosphorus pollution in the Great Lakes, DDT, ozone depletion, acid […]

Citizen Scientists Play Important Role in Sustaining Our Watersheds.

By Dr. Norman Yan. My friend Jay is a fiddle player, a master gardener, and a maple syrup maker. My friend Jan is an industrial electrician, and a marathon swimmer, and she can fix anything that’s broken. And Jay and Jan are also both citizen scientists, two of hundreds of Muskoka residents (and thousands of […]

Artificial intelligence and its impact on the Muskoka watershed.

Everything is connected to everything else. It’s going to be challenging to manage the wonderful natural environment of Muskoka in this rapidly changing world. By Peter Sale. I don’t feel like talking about tariffs today. Nor about ice storms or sudden thaws. I want to talk about AI. You know how we at Muskoka Watershed […]

What’s Wrong with the Current Management of Our Watershed?

Too Many Managers and No Common Plan. By Patricia Arney. The Muskoka River Watershed stretches from its headwaters within Algonquin Park to its outlet to Georgian Bay. This watershed needs holistic governance that stretches across municipal boundaries and across environmental issues – land-use planning, water quality, climate change. Current governance is not holistic, and my […]

On Our Path to Integrate our Watershed Management.

IWM is a necessary new approach to manage how we live, work and play in Muskoka. We need this new paradigm to remain economically prosperous while retaining a resilient natural environment. By Kevin Trimble. Integrated Watershed Management (IWM) is a necessary new approach to manage how we live, work and play in Muskoka. We need […]

How well do we know our watershed?

What do we know about our watershed and are there gaps in the information being collected? By Dr. Peter Sale. The Muskoka River Watershed stretches over 5,400 square kilometres of forests, farmlands, towns, wetlands, streams, rivers and lakes from Algonquin Park to Georgian Bay. Some of us have explored large parts of it, but most […]

What’s in that sip of lake water?

By Dr. Norman Yan. Over the decades on wilderness canoe trips, I commonly scooped a drink of lake water, as long as the water “looked” clear and clean. In fact, I did this several times a day with a cup I kept tied to my thwart. Paddling is work after all. I must have drunk […]

MWC Chair’s Annual Report for 2024.

Delivered by MWC Chair Aaron Rusak at MWC’s Annual General Meeting held on February 21, 2025. My usual style of brevity and efficiency may not lend itself well to summarizing the busy year that Muskoka Watershed Council has had. However, I will still endeavour to share the accomplishments we’ve had this year in as effective […]