Water quality in Windsor-Essex continues to have a failing grade according to the latest watershed report card released by the Essex Region Conservation Authority.
Grades for surface water quality in the region's watersheds range from C to F with mostly D grades.
"The watersheds are stressed, but hope is not lost with them, there are lots of things that we can do to improve them. We have a long way to go and we can achieve it. I think we just have to have realistic goals and expectations," says Katie Stammler, water quality scientist with ERCA.
Stammler says they are doing a lot of work with the greenhouses to reduce phosphorus runoff and partnering with the University of Windsor to improve the understanding of e.coli contamination.
She says they also need to continue to improve tree cover throughout the area and particularly around waterways. Stammler says when this happens we will also see improvements in the water quality.
"Right now our watercourses don't have enough habitat, there are not enough trees around our watercourses to keep the sediments the way the benthics [small aquatic animals like insects] like to have them and to keep our fish in there. The watercourses are very hot because there's no shade," says Stammler.
The watershed report cards are completed every five years in accordance with provincial standards. This is the second report card under this new system. Stammler says it will take another five years to really identify trends in the data.
