Ecosystem Health

Our Changing Watershed: Think of your body as an ecosystem

We need to listen to what ecologists are telling us. By Geoff Ross. Last week, we provided an ecologist’s viewpoint of an ecosystem. You may have found that description complex,…

IWM Homepage Slider Graphic

Our Changing Watershed: What is an Ecosystem?

Muskoka Watershed Council works to answer that question, which is easier to ask than to answer. By Aaron Rusak. Humans are very much part of the ecosystem – but our…

Birds Mill Dam

Our Changing Watershed: Is it Time to Give the Muskoka River Legal Rights?

Shifting the balance between us and the rest of nature. By Dr. Peter Sale. Birds Mill Dam in Bracebridge. Photo by Neil Hutchinson The Muskoka River Watershed is mostly in…

Floating Home in NWT

Our Changing Watershed: Living with Flood Waters

A floodplain is a risky area to build. By Dr. Neil Hutchinson. Floating home in Yellowknife Bay, N.W.T., where annual water level fluctuations are 20 to 40 centimetres and 1.5…

Headwater Streams

Our Changing Watershed: How Nature Works to Avoid Flooding in Muskoka

By Kevin Trimble. We often don’t think about floods until we see torrents of water roaring over our dams and waterfalls, down our big rivers, or raising water levels in…

Flooded Area Photo in Bracebridge Bay

Our Changing Watershed: A Layman’s Guide to Spring Flooding in Muskoka

What happened in 2023? By Chris Cragg. The extreme spring flooding we saw in 2019 and 2013 does not happen every year. It only happens when a sequence of adverse…

Muskoka lake and wetland

Our Changing Watershed: Understanding the threats facing our watershed

What kind of place do we want Muskoka to become? By Dr. Neil Hutchinson. Our Muskoka, and our watershed, are changing. From the forests and wetlands in the upper reaches…

Muskoka Watershed Council

What is the Muskoka Watershed Council?

By Peter Sale, MWC Chair. The otter on the Muskoka Watershed Council logo has been cavorting across Muskoka for over 20 years, yet people remain confused. MWC is not part of…

MWC DIrector David Parsons at the Muskoka Earth Festival

MWC Chair’s Annual Report for 2022

Delivered by MWC Chair Peter Sale at MWC's Annual General Meeting held on January 20, 2023. Our last AGM, on 22nd April 2022, seems a very long time ago. The…

Watershed Stewards Recognized Through the Doug Cross Stewardship Recognition Program

Muskoka Watershed Council is pleased to recognize a number of watershed stewards, as selected by their respective organizations, through the Doug Cross Stewardship Recognition Program in 2022. The Doug Cross…

Blanding's Turtle

Muskoka’s Natural Heritage and Bill 23

To: Environmental Registry of Ontario https://ero.ontario.ca/index.php/notice/019-6172 https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-2927 https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-6160 Re: Muskoka’s Natural Heritage and Bill 23 Muskoka Watershed Council (MWC) is a community-based not-for-profit corporation. Since 2001, we have developed sound,…

Photo of a Painted Turtle taken by Rebecca Willison

MWC “Shellebrates” World Turtle Day!

By Jo-Anne Goodwin and Warren Goodwin. On the beach, on the roads, or on a log, cottagers and locals alike are thrilled yearly by the sightings of one of our…