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Watershed report cards average D grade

Water quality grades improved in five watersheds
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The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority has release report cards on local environmental conditions in 28 watersheds within its jurisdiction.

The 2022 report cards show that grades in the 28 watersheds range from C to D.

Since the last report cards, five watersheds have seen improved grades in water quality scores while 21 remain steady and two saw lower grades.

The overall water quality grade has remained steady since 2012 with a D average across the Conservation Authority watershed.

The forest condition grades range from C to F, with D being the most common grade. Among the watersheds, 11 showed slight improvement, mainly due to young tree plantations that have reached maturity. Additionally, 13 forest condition grades remained steady and four had slight declines.

The report cards also summarize watershed features, recommend local actions to improve the environment, and look at progress made since the previous report cards.

“In this region, watersheds face ongoing pressures from population growth, development, weather extremes, and other impacts, so maintaining the status quo in stream quality can be a measure of progress,” said Craig Irwin, UTRCA water quality specialist. “Improving the overall watershed health is always the goal, though, to support healthy communities for people and wildlife and build resilience in the face of climate change.”

The report cards grade surface water quality and forest conditions and a variety of other information and are produced every five years.

The report cards can be found here and a summary brochure can be found here.