With our extensive natural areas and numerous lakes and waterways, Muskoka is rich in natural capital, which is vital to our economy and the quality of our lives. Effective management can sustain that capital to the maximum extent possible while permitting the development required to house our population and sustain our economy.
This natural capital – the soils, forests, grasslands, wetlands – also plays a role in determining the flow of water into streams, rivers and lakes. However, we lack a detailed understanding of how natural capital affects flow from place to place across our watershed, and how climate change may modify these regulating processes.
MWC recommends that an advanced form of integrated watershed management (IWM) be implemented in Muskoka, ultimately to drive all aspects of environmental management and land-use planning. Recognizing the strong dependence of the economy and community on a high quality environment, IWM can be designed to meet the needs and goals of every business owner, wage earner, property owner and visitor in the watershed. By integrating socio-economic criteria with environmental management, IWM is intended to create more sustainable communities.

Graphic from Conservation Ontario
Community Roundtable
The Community Roundtable (CRT) was established by MWC in 2021. Its mission is to promote and support the initiation of IWM in the Muskoka River Watershed by:
- Providing the District of Muskoka with input and advice on its initial suite of projects in the “Making Waves” initiative; and
- Engaging and educating the watershed community and contributing local input, knowledge, experience and guidance in the development of an integrated watershed management strategy for the Muskoka River Watershed.
The CRT includes MWC members, representatives from municipalities with lands within the Muskoka River Watershed, and members drawn from a variety of business interests, organizations, and communities across the watershed. For more information about the Community Roundtable, contact [email protected]
CRT Meetings
The CRT meets on the second Wednesday of each month and meetings are open to the public. Agendas and minutes of meetings are available below.
Agendas and Minutes
CRT Resources
IWM Resources
Over the past two years, MWC has produced a number of resources discussing IWM and its application in Muskoka. The 2019 Muskoka Stewardship Conference also focused on watersheds and watershed management.
MWC Publications

Watershed governance: A selection of case studies for informing integrated watershed management in the Muskoka River Watershed (2023)

The Evolution of Water Management in the Muskoka River Watershed (2020)

The Case for Integrated Watershed Management in Muskoka (2020)

Planning for Climate Change in Muskoka (2016)
MWC Articles
- Reflections on Earth Day and Muskoka
- Muskoka Watershed Council is seeking Community Round Table members
- A Community Round Table is needed for Integrated Watershed Management
- Municipal Official Plan Recommendations
- Restoring Muskoka shorelines and integrated watershed management
- Texas Freeze and Muskoka Flooding: What We Can Learn From Recent Events Down South
- Current planning is not doing enough to protect the Muskoka River Watershed
- Drawdown Ecology – why can’t we just lower the lakes?
- An integrated solution for flooding, climate action and economic prosperity
- Flooding and the elephant in our Muskoka watershed
MWAG Recommendations
The Muskoka Watershed Advisory Group (MWAG) submitted an interim report on issues and priorities for protecting the watershed and supporting the local economy to the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP). Several of the recommendations relate to IWM.
- Read the Interim Report at https://www.ontario.ca/page/advisory-group-report-protecting-muskoka-river-watershed.
- Read MWC’s submission to MWAG at https://www.muskokawatershed.org/blog/submission-to-mwag/.
- Read the District of Muskoka’s report on Provincial Funding for Watershed Initiatives (15 March 2021) at https://muskoka.civicweb.net/filepro/document/36892/Report%206(2021)-5%20-%20Watershed%20Initiatives.pdf.
Other Resources
- Presentations
- Technical Projects
- Documents
- Papers
- Articles
- A Review of Successful IWM Approaches Around North America by Sandra Cooke
- September 2022 CRT Review and Path Forward by Kevin Trimble
- Water Management Plan vs. Integrated Watershed Management by Bryan Ingram & Justin Bremner
- Water Quantity Management in the Muskoka River Watershed by Chris Cragg
- Integrated Watershed Planning: What’s It All About? by Barb Veale
- Effective Watershed Planning by Deborah Martin-Downs
- Integrated Watershed Management: Pitfalls, Prospects, and Perspective by Barb Veale
- The Watershed as an Ecological Unit: Creating Context for Rational Management by Jack G. Imhof
- Watershed Management: Why not manage water as part of an ecosystem? by Kevin Trimble & Richard Lammers
- Watershed Health Indicators – Muskoka River Watershed by Andrea Smith, Ph.D. (Hutchinson Environmental Sciences Ltd.)
- Muskoka River Water Management Plan (Muskoka Water Web)
- Integrated Watershed Management Plan for the Peace and Slave Watersheds (March 2018)
- A Quick Guide to Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters – US Environmental Protection Agency
- Getting in Step: Engaging Stakeholders in Your Watershed – US Environmental Protection Agency
- Designing flow regimes to support entire river ecosystems by Jonathan D Tonkin, Julian D Olden, David M Merritt, Lindsay V Reynolds, Jane S Rogosch, and David A Lytle
- Implementing integrated water management: illustrations from the Grand River watershed by Barbara Veale & Sandra Cooke
- Integrated Water Resources Management in Canada: the experience of watershed agencies by Dan Shrubsole, Dan Walters, Barbara Veale & Bruce Mitchell
- Science-based, stakeholder-inclusive and participatory conservation planning helps reverse the decline of threatened species by C.M. Lees, A. Rutschmann, A.W. Santure, and J.R. Beggs
- Rethinking how the Muskoka River watershed is managed, particularly with more flood events anticipated (Huntsville Doppler, 9 April 2021)
- Water levels – One year later (Unique Muskoka, 18 May 2020)
- Can the MNRF control major flooding? (Huntsville Doppler, 29 April 2019)
- Understanding Muskoka’s Watershed (Unique Muskoka, 26 April 2019)