Wetland and Stormwater Enhancement
Protect and enhance natural areas on your property (woodlots, meadows, streamside vegetation).
Plant native trees, shrubs, plants, filter strips, bioswales.
Watch for wet areas.
Contact Your Local Wetland Experts
Call us today for a site visit.
Each individual project is a step towards improving the water quality of our entire watershed.
To find out about stormwater enhancements you can make on your property – and to find out about grants and technical advice – please contact Angela VanNiekerk, avanniekerk@abca.ca or 519-235-2610 ext 259.
About Wetlands
Wetlands are areas of land that are wet for all, or a portion, of the year. They tend to have soils that drain poorly and support water-loving plants such as Cattails, Sedges, Rushes, Blue Flag Iris, Willows, and Dogwoods. Wetlands filter water. This helps to remove contaminants.
In addition to water quality and water quantity benefits, wetlands capture carbon. They provide habitat for waterfowl, as well as more than 600 species of plants and animals, some of which are species at risk. They are one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems in Ontario.
Stormwater projects absorb and store water during storm or flood events as well as release needed water during drier times. This helps to reduce damage from both flooding and droughts.
Stormwater may cause flooding and erosion on your land. There may be areas to improve filtration (cover crops), or to add pasture strips around woodlot edges; to control the water with berms or rain gardens; or trap and treat with buffer strips or ponds.
Wetland restoration and stormwater enhancement is a community effort that benefits downstream areas of our watershed community. These areas improve water quality and reduce sediment, supporting species-at-risk mussels and fishes and their habitats. They may expand on natural areas and provide cleaner drinking water for people.
Other Resources:
Visit these links for more wetland resources:
Thanks to our funding partners:
Ausable Bayfield Conservation, ‘your local wetland expert,’ has links to funds and encourages residents to consider local wetland restoration; Wetlands provide water, soil and habitat benefits for our common future
World Wetlands Day takes place on Sunday, February 2, 2025. The theme for this year is ‘Protecting wetlands for our common future’ with a message to ‘value, protect and inspire.’
Angela Van Niekerk is the Wetlands Specialist with Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA). She said it is amazing how fast the local dragonflies, turtles, frogs and birds move into the constructed wetlands, once the habitat is provided. She has also observed water being held on the land during storm events to the benefit of water quality and erosion control.
Since 2008, Ausable Bayfield Conservation has helped more than one hundred local landowners create more than 150 wetlands over 950 acres.
Last autumn, local landowner Phil McNamee, and ABCA, restored a wetland at Serenity Nature Reserve on Corbett Line next to the ABCA Mahon Tract. This wetland was created in a 1.5-acre field. This wetland will provide benefits of water storage during flooding events and reduce sediment to the municipal drain, Parkhill Creek, and Lake Huron at Grand Bend. This area will be a lively emergent marsh providing habitat for many birds and other animals.
Please watch for social media events in late May for the public planting event to add 500 pollinator and wetland plants to the site.
Visit the website for Serenity Nature Reserve.
The wetland projects have been possible with low or no costs to the landowners thanks to the support of funding partners: Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks; and Huron County Clean Water Project.
Other funding partners have included Ducks Unlimited Canada and ALUS Middlesex among others.
Do you think a wetland may enhance your property?
“Give us a call at Ausable Bayfield Conservation for a site visit and to find out about financial incentives to make your project possible,” Angela said. Staff make it easy for landowners to do these projects with little or no paperwork, she said.
World Wetlands Day has celebrated the importance of wetlands, to all living things, since February 2, 1971.