Watershed Residents Research Articles

The Huron River Watershed council: Grassroots organization for holistic watershed management

The Huron River Watershed Council is a coalition of Huron Valley residents and local governments with the mission to inspire attitudes, behaviors, and economies that protect, rehabilitate, and sustain the Huron River. Its role as the coordinator and facilitator of river protection activities has been growing rapidly in recent years. The success of the Council has been its ability to respond to local conditions and deal with the concerns expressed by local communities. Its ability to cross jurisdictional and political boundaries that inhibit other organizations enables it to address water quality issues in an innovative and holistic manner. It does this through the series of programs listed below:•The “Adopt-A-Stream” network of volunteers that regularly collect data on the biological integrity of the Huron River.•A wellhead protection program to help communities prevent groundwater supply contamination caused by pollution leaching into local aquifers.•The facilitation of a partnership to reduce phosphorus and soil entering the river system from storm water runoff in the urbanizing middle portion of the watershed.•Land use planning and natural feature preservation tools to prevent the headwaters of the Huron River from developing in an envirotunentally destructive way.•An information and education plan to reduce non-point source pollution by targeting specific behaviors of watershed residents.

The effect of livestock grazing on surface runoff and soil erosion from sloping pasture lands in the Ethiopian highlands

Summary. Effects of livestock grazing on surface runoff and soil erosion at varying slopes were studied in pasture lands within Ginchi watershed, Ethiopia. The results showed that livestock grazing in the watershed followed distinct seasonal and spatial patterns. During the rainy season, grazing pressure was greatest on the upper slopes (>5% slope) while the pressure shifted to the lower slopes during part of the dry season. Seasonal grazing pressure in different parts of the watershed was further complicated by the fact that during the rainy season and immediately after the rains, grazing was limited to individually designated pasture lands while during most part of the dry season, the entire watershed became a common grazing resource for livestock of watershed residents as well as those farmers outside the watershed. It was observed that, on pastures above 4.2% slope, there is the risk of erosion rates exceeding the estimated soil loss tolerable limit under the current grazing pressures (heavy grazing), while slopes exceeding 5.8% are likely to suffer soil erosion under moderate grazing pressure at the current level of biomass productivity. Since livestock are mobile, farmers tend to take advantage of this attribute by seasonally moving the livestock to different parts of the watershed. This study has demonstrated the need for better understanding of the resource use patterns beyond the individual farmlands, most preferably at watershed level, so that on-site and off-site effects of seasonal concentration of livestock can be incorporated into developing feed production and management strategies for improving the system productivity and environmental protection.

THE LONG LAKE DIVERSION: AN ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION

The Long Lake Diversion was completed in 1939 in northern Ontario Precambrian Shield topography. It redirects the northward flowing Kenogami River south to Lake Superior. Major goals of the scheme were to provide water for local and Great Lakes area hydroelectric generation and to facilitate interbasin pulpwood transportation. The study evaluates direct and biophysically induced socioeconomic effects of the diversion. Flow regulation and log handling impacts are examined in downstream, receiving water-body, diversion channel, and reservoir areas. Prediversion environmental conditions are established to ascertain created, residual, and foregone resource opportunities. A survey of resource managers’ and diverted watershed residents’ perceptions and attitudes concerning the scheme and a project benefit-cost analysis are undertaken. The study reveals that following project completion there was a period of ecological and social disruption followed by adjustment and relative stability. But in general, project-i...