Mandate, History, Objectives, and Bylaws

OUR MANDATE

The Cornwall & Area Watershed Group is a community-based group whose goal is to enhance the water quality and health of our local waterways, to restore and protect wildlife habitats, and to improve active living through increased recreational opportunities by involving the community residents, farmers, landowners, and government in collaborative watershed planning and active support for environmental stewardship.

OUR HISTORY

The Cornwall and Area Watershed Group has been active since February 2009. It was founded by a group of Cornwall residents that wanted to play an active role in the preservation and revitalization of our watershed.

THE HYDE CREEK WATERSHED

If you live in Cornwall, your watershed is the Hyde Creek Watershed. It is a tremendous resource, important to the environmental sustainability of our community.

URBAN WATERSHEDS

The Hyde Creek Watershed has many characteristics of an urban watershed. In urban watersheds, storm drains or catch basins are designed to carry storm water away from developed (highly impervious) areas to prevent flooding. Anything that enters the storm drain or catch basins eventually ends up in our local rivers. This type of pollution is the biggest problem faced by urban watersheds. Towns & Cities must plan around the sustainability of their watersheds when designing storm water infrastructure. Storm water entry into watersheds must be environmentally friendly to prevent erosion. Buffer zones need to be adequate enough to allow for proper filtration of storm water before entering the watershed.

OUR OBJECTIVES

  • Evaluate our Watershed – Develop and implement science-based programs to research, assess, monitor, and evaluate.
  • Advocate for our Watershed – Advocate for sound air, land, and water use planning, as well as management practices and policies.
  • Communicate and Educate – Develop and implement public information and education programs that promote sustainability and an understanding of the impact of human actions on the watersheds.
  • Preserve and Revitalize – Promote buffer zone regulations and best practices that support an environmentally sustainable community structure. Invest in the revitalization of areas of the watershed that have been damaged by human actions.

For more information, please download our brochure, or get in touch with us here!