This impact story was adapted from an article entitled “How can you love a lake?” by Monica Seidel on page 10 of the Water Canada magazine issue for July/August 2024. It has been shortened, and also contains additions from Watersheds Canada staff about their collaborative relationship with Canadian Wildlife Federation. Header photo © Love Your Lake.
There are more than two million lakes and rivers in Canada where we love to spend our time and create lasting memories. Indeed, water quality, swimming, scenery or view, and natural shorelines are important to Canadians—more than half of people surveyed said these elements affected their personal enjoyment of being by the lake (Love Your Lake, 2021).
Though we love them dearly, we often have a complicated relationship with our lakes. Out of 44,274 shoreline assessments completed on 187 developed lakes in Canada, only 22 per cent of properties met the minimum criteria for sustaining wildlife and lake health (Love Your Lake, 2021).
The Love Your Lake program directly addresses this disconnect between our values and our actions. The initiative is a “program-in-a-box” that offers actionable steps individuals and communities can take to protect the freshwater bodies they love. (Though the name of the program has “lake” in the title, it is also relevant for rivers and bays.) This program has been delivered nationally since 2013 and is coordinated by Watersheds Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation, with funding support from the Rogers Foundation.
A Long-Term Collaboration Between Two Partner Organizations
How did the partnership emerge?
Watersheds Canada originally approached Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) with interest in championing Love Your Lake alongside an established, leading, like-minded organization that carries a dynamic reputation in presenting conservation education and science. Watersheds Canada thrives on partnerships, either at a local level through clubs and associations, or at the national level with leading environmental leaders like CWF.
There is strength in co-branding and shared communications. There is also clearer imagination and innovation through collaboration beyond an organization’s own network–that is where opportunities to grow faster together happen.
Why has the partnership been so strong and lasted so long?
CWF and Watersheds Canada complement each other in terms of education, science, and on-the-ground programs, sharing a concern about Canada’s lakes that are increasingly under threat for a number of reasons including development and climate change. Love Your Lake promotes better public awareness of those threats while proactively offering volunteer actions to protect our lakes.
Love Your Lake Program Steps
- Trained assessors visit a waterbody via boat and visit all properties that have opted in to the voluntary program.
- The assessors work through a protocol sheet for three different zones on each property, looking for a variety of factors such as aquatic vegetation, docks, building setback, erosion, eavestroughs, special habitat, slope, invasive species, shoreline lighting, and more. The three zones they assess include:
- Riparian zones, or “ribbons of life”, which extend inland from shorelines for at least 15 metres. They act as natural buffers and include trees, shrubs, and grasses that absorb excess nutrients and certain pollutants.
- Shorelines, where the land and water meet. These zones contain a mix of vegetation whose roots, foliage, and fallen limbs hold the waterfront together and fend off erosion.
- Aquatic zones, referring to the waterbody. These zones include the littoral area, which extends from the water’s edge to where sunlight no longer reaches the bottom. In the littoral region, people often build docks and swim, sharing the water with up to 90 percent of lake species.
- The assessors compile individualized, confidential property reports for landowners around the waterbody, including recommendations for voluntary actions to protect long-term property and water health.
- Community groups receive a summary report for the waterbody containing recommendations for voluntary actions and priorities for the whole community.
Love Your Lake property reports discuss the many different parts of a shoreline property and give detailed descriptions of how different human actions can either benefit or harm the freshwater ecosystem. To truly love our waterbodies, we must look at how we can stay in a healthy relationship with them for years to come. If your organization is interested in promoting the Love Your Lake program or wants to find out more about participating in it, please visit loveyourlake.ca.
About Monica Seidel
Communications and Fundraising Manager, Watersheds Canada: a passionate environmental educator and communicator who is always looking for opportunities to connect people of all ages with nature and local wildlife species