Ausable Bayfield Project Coordinator says Climate Change will Continue to be a Major Factor in their Watershed Strategy

by Bob Montgomery

Project Coordinator Kate Monk presented a draft of the consolidated Watershed Strategy to the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority Board at their last meeting.

Monk says the Watershed Strategy outlines the goals and priorities for staff and directors and then the programs they will use to implement the strategy. Monk says the last strategy was done in 2015 and there has not been a lot of change since then, so their priorities remain the same, focusing on protecting life and property from flooding, education, stewardship looking after their lands and monitoring and doing research.

Monk says climate change definitely influences the Watershed Strategy and originally they thought they would have a specific chapter in the updated strategy on climate change. “And then as we we’re writing the strategy, we realized that climate change is really within everything that we do and we have an important role to play in mitigating the effects of climate change, but also adapting to it as well.” Monk notes that climate change has already resulted in changes and our climate will continue to change and that's a key component of their strategy.