The Nashwaak Watershed

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A Day by the Nashwaak River

July 21, 2015

On July 16, we — Olivia, Aliza and Karyn — traveled out to visit the Nashwaak watershed and learn more about river conservation and the work of the Nashwaak Watershed Association. We were excited for our first work adventure out of the office — a day on the water!

Stephanie Merrill, Freshwater Program Coordinator at the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, and also a board member of the watershed association, began our tour in Marysville along the banks of the beautiful Nashwaak River. Here we became more familiar with what Stephanie’s work and volunteer efforts consists of! She communicates water issues with the public and policy-makers and works with community groups like watershed associations such as the Nashwaak Watershed Association (NWAI).

Stephanie told us about a couple of key issues concerning groups who are working to protect our provincial waterways. We learned about the provincial Water Classification Program, which was developed by the Department of Environment and watershed groups to set water quality standards for rivers in New Brunswick, but which has yet to be enforced by the Department. Stephanie also mentioned the steady decline of salmon returning from the ocean, a worrisome trend that’s been going on since the mid ’70s due to a number of reasons like warming waters from climate change, sea lice impacts on migrating populations, and degradation of spawning habitat. We finished this section of our tour with an attempt at a group selfie with the Nashwaak. Too bad we didn’t have a selfie stick.

Group selfie- from left, Karyn MacPherson, Olivia DeYoung, Aliza Haider, Stephanie Merrill.

Our next stop was to visit NWAI president, Paul McLaughlin. We learned a brief overview about what they are doing at the association and the tree nursery which we would be visiting later. We took a walk down the Sentier NB Trail that travels directly along the Nashwaak. Here we learned more about the area’s history, the difference between red maple, sugar maple and silver maple as well as the classification of many other trees. Sugar maple are the trees you tap for syrup… cool! We also discovered many baby silver maples we are going to transplant for the nursery.

President, Paul MacLaughlin of the Nashwaak Watershed Association teaching us about the trees in the area.

After a quick stop for a bite to eat we continued our tour along the Nashwaak, journeying to the NWAI tree nursery. We travelled just north of Durham Bridge to Sandra Estey’s land, locally called the McLean Flat. Sandra has graciously partnered with NWAI to use her property to house the nursery and demonstration site for outplanting from the nursery to the river bank. The nursery has a large supply of various sized saplings that are available for anyone along the Nashwaak to plant near eroding stream banks to help preserve the integrity of the bank. Also, if you need professional advice on species, site selection, planting and maintenance, the NWAI can provide you with that! Stabilizing the riverbanks helps to prevent sediment from settling into the river and also maintains water temperature and oxygen levels — all very important components of good salmon habitat and spawning conditions!

The tree nursery houses almost 5,000 seedlings reaching up to five feet in height! Almost 500 new seedlings are added each year from native hardwood and softwood seeds and cuttings collected in the area. Each year the plants rotate beds and after four years are ready to be planted by the river. The older trees are best for planting as they are more successful at surviving the transplant and will be able to withstand the pressures of flooding and moving ice seen each spring along the river.

Paul, explains the planting purpose of the tree nursery.

The nursery and river planting program goes hand-in-hand with the association’s work to set up a greenway within the watershed. It would be the first greenway officially established in the Fredericton area; a publicly-held forest, trail and wetland area that would be maintained for its natural landscape. As an in-tact forested wetland, it would help reduce flooding, improve air quality, lower the summer water temperatures, prevent soil erosion and provide habitat for wildlife. The restoration of these forested wetlands will also offer savings to the city in terms of services such as water filtration, flood mitigation, carbon storage to capture greenhouse gases, maintaining moderate temperatures and controlling erosion (as compared with engineered devices that cost millions to the city). It also provides recreational opportunities like hiking, bird watching and more. What a great idea!

One topic both Stephanie and Paul talked a lot about was the provincial Water Classification program. We learned the various roles CCNB and NWAI have undertaken since the legislation was adopted in 2001. The legislation, under the Clean Water Act, aimed to collect, analyze and classify the state of water quality within the Nashwaak watershed and other rivers around the province. The water quality classification was to then inform the goals (based on current and future land and water uses) and priorities of communities along the rivers. It was intended that once an agreement is made on the future water quality goals, the class for each stage of the river will be set and water quality will be regulated by legislation, along with an action plan for maintaining or improving that water quality.

The beautiful Nashwaak River

Unfortunately the project has been stalled since its introduction in 2003. Paul tells us he is disappointed the Department of Environment has not acted on the work his association did under the program, now more than 10 years later. Stephanie says the Water Classification program is a key tool to help protect New Brunswick’s waterways and ensure healthy waters into the future. She says the province has all the powers necessary to move the current river classifications into law. We sure hope that happens!

We had an excellent day out of the office and would like to thank Paul and Stephanie for taking us on this exciting Nashwaak adventure. Next time we will be sure to bring our swim suits!

Filed Under: News & Events

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NWAI on Twitter

@ASDWLimelight @ASDWLimelight @MusicAsdw Check it out

- 49 days ago

Mr. Woodcock's talented gr 12 FHS music class joined us at Marysville Flats this week! We talked climate change and floodplain restoration. We're excited to hear what they create from their Nashwaak River trip. Kudos to the NB Dept of Ed for supporting this awesome experience! https://t.co/6nGyCy7XBP

- 50 days ago

Thanks for supporting this outdoor learning opportunity. Come visit anytime. It was a pleasure to spend time talking about water, climate change and floodplain restoration. @ASD_West @ASDWLimelight @FHSkats @CityFredGov @CityFredRec #eaunbwater #mynashwaak https://t.co/ALhfzSS123

- 52 days ago

Thanks @mla_mike for leading crown land conservation! https://t.co/ObSdrLvBcq

- 54 days ago

@Andrew__Holland @mla_mike @Gov_NB @NCC_CNC Excellent work!

- 54 days ago

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Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.

Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.

Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.

5 hours ago

Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.
It’s almost time for river ice monitoring! Each year, we conduct river ice surveys along the Nashwaak River throughout the winter and spring as a part of GNB’s River Watch Program. The information collected in these ground-based surveys helps the province keep track of the state of our rivers and streams, and can actually be used to forecast potential floods. During the surveys, we record ice types and concentrations, snow and ice thickness, surface and shore conditions, and many other parameters. This information is especially important to collect during ice jams, as they can increase water levels upstream and result in flooding. Keep an eye out for us along the Nashwaak and check back for more ice monitoring updates over the coming months. #MyNashwaak #eauNBwater ... See MoreSee Less

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Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.

24 hours ago

Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.
A big thank you to everyone who who whooo joined us and @atlanticducks for the first of our three Owls, Stars and Snowshoes events. It was beautiful evening to be in the winter forest with you folks ❄️🌲🦉#nighthike #owlcalling #community #hotchocolate #nashwaakwatershed ... See MoreSee Less

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Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.

4 days ago

Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.
Though still SOLD OUT, we wanted to make sure everyone knew that our event has been moved to Sunday the 5th due to the extremely cold forecast tomorrow. Same time, same place, same adventure. If you have tickets and this is news to you, please check your junk mail for any missed Eventbrite updates. Cheers ... See MoreSee Less

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Contact Us

Mail:
Nashwaak Watershed Association Inc.
P.O. Box 314, Station “A”
Fredericton, NB
E3B 4Y2

Office:
181 Westmorland Street
Fredericton, NB
E3B 3L6
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Phone: 506 447-9699
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