While March sunshine and warmer temperatures could have you eager to crack open a cold drink on the patio and pull out the swimsuits, water management representatives warn that it’s not all a cause for celebration in the Trent River watershed.

“We could be in for a very different summer,” warns North Kawartha Township Mayor Carolyn Amyotte.

The difference comes from the fallout of a premature spring thaw, subnormal precipitation, and unseasonable temperatures throughout the winter. Surveys by Parks Canada — which is responsible for water management along the Trent-Severn Waterway — show that in the Haliburton area alone, total precipitation has been below average every month since September 2023 and was just 35 per cent of normal in February 2024.

“Normally when we get to this time of year, there’s a great deal of water stored all through the Trent River basin and it’s stored as snowpack,” says Ted Spence, executive committee chair of the Coalition for Equitable Water Flow (CEWF) and a retired professor with an academic focus in environmental planning and hydrology.

“The snowpack was already less than 60 per cent in the northern areas, ranging down to essentially zero as you get further down in the basin. Now it’s closer to zero everywhere.”

CEWF is a volunteer organization established in 2008 to represent those who own residential shoreline property on 35 reservoir and 20 flow-through lakes located in Haliburton County and northern Peterborough County, in the Haliburton sector of the Trent River watershed. CEWF acts as the liaison between the membership lake associations and the Parks Canada Trent-Severn water management team, which maintains the water levels for all lakes through dam operations.

VIDEO: Coalition for Equitable Water Flow

With below-typical precipitation causing a lack of stored water, Parks Canada is managing the dams throughout the system and logs have now been added to all reservoir lake dams to gradually build water levels.

“If we start to get normal precipitation, they would be aiming to get (reservoir lakes) up to 75 or 80 per cent by the end of April,” says Spence, who resides in Peterborough but cottages on Catchacoma Lake, which is a part of the Mississauga Lake chain, the largest reservoir in the waterway. “In a normal year, they would be looking to get the whole system up to about 90 per cent in early May.”

Spence suggests this water monitoring activity is happening about a month ahead of when it typically would and, combined with the early winter run-off, water levels on the lakes are coming up “a few centimetres per day.”

“The lakes are all higher than they would normally be on this date, but there’s nothing sitting upstream to come down to finish filling them,” Spence points out. “The water level on your lakes is going up earlier than you would expect.”

Monitoring of water levels doesn’t stop at the northern reservoir lakes, but goes all the way down through the system.

“We have to fill the whole system and, right now, the downstream parts like the Trent River and Otonabee River through Peterborough have been reduced to minimum flows in order to allow the canal lakes and the Kawartha Lakes to be filled above, and for the reservoirs to fill,” Spence says. “To have that happening in March is exceptional.”

After the reservoir lakes are filled in late spring, water is gradually drawn from the lakes over the summer months until fall to support boat navigation in the Trent-Severn Waterway system.

Though spring thaws often prompt concerns of flooding, that is of less concern this year given the lack of snowmelt. What could be an issue to property owners, however, is shoreline damage caused by ice breaking up on the lakes.

“Most of the northern lakes still have ice cover which has broken away from the shore as the water level came up and the weather got warmer, and it’s breaking up and it can blow with high winds,” Spence says. “We know that shorelines are very vulnerable to ice damage and anybody who leaves structures in the water, like docks or posts, are always susceptible to damage from blowing ice, but this is certainly earlier (than usual).”

As for Mayor Amyotte, who resides on Eels Lake (a reservoir lake located north of Apsley) and is the representative on the Upper Trent Water Management Partnership, the risk lies in the months ahead should there not be increased levels of precipitation.

“If we’re starting off this season super dry, it wouldn’t surprise me to see us having fire bans starting off quite quickly,” she says. “Having a forest that’s under stress because it’s so dry is not good for potential fire risk.”

Amyotte notes too that, with the increased sunshine, any precipitation is more likely to evaporate than it is to be absorbed into the watershed, and that drought could change the migratory patterns of birds and animals, among other impacts on the ecosystems.

“When ecosystems are under stress because of droughts, they’re more susceptible to pests and diseases,” she says. “It has far-ranging consequences, and not only on our enjoyment of being able to fish or paddle downstream.”

While Amyotte and Spence both agree there is no need for cottage owners to rush up to their properties ahead of schedule, they should be prepared to operate differently this year.

“You may be moving your dock out a little sooner than you’re used to,” says Amyotte. “You may want to consider extending your water line in the lake if it’s in a spot that can get shallow — certainly for those reservoir lakes.”

She also encourages property owners to think ahead about proactive measures like installing rain barrels and to check out firesmartcanada.ca for tools and resources on taking inventory to monitor potential fire risks and safety measures.

For now, Spence assures that most dams have automated water gauges and that the Trent-Severn water management team gets “real-time data” which alters their ongoing management of water levels.

“Trent-Severn is doing everything they can to protect the interests of everybody in the basin by storing as much water as possible and storing it earlier than they would normally,” he says. “Their crews are out every day working on the channels, the logs, and the dams and they’re ready to deal with any kind of issue.”

“Nobody really knows what’s going to happen,” Amyotte adds. “But all we can say is we need rain, and we really need it to soak into the ground.”

Visit www.cewf.ca for resources on water management safety, or more information on water management of the Trent-Severn Waterway. Visit parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/on/trentsevern/info/infonet/niveau-eau-water-levels for up-to-date information on water levels in the Trent-Severn Waterway.

PDF: Trent River Watershed Flowchart
Trent River Watershed Flowchart

Northumberland County council is welcoming provincial government funding to the tune of $2.4 million towards establishing a new emergency shelter and homelessness support services in a former retirement home building in Cobourg.

In December 2023, Northumberland County announced a partnership with Transition House Shelter to modernize shelter services with the purchase of the 47-bedroom complex at 310 Division St. in Cobourg.

Expected to open in the spring, the facility will include about 35 emergency shelter spaces and a drop-in warming/cooling centre. It is intended to later provide increased services and transitional housing accommodations.

During a March 14 special county council meeting, council asked county staff to complete all required agreements with the province to secure $2,469,500 in additional funding from the homelessness prevention program for the Division Street initiative.

“In times of pressing need, collaboration between all levels of government is imperative,” said Northumberland County Warden Brian Ostrander in a media release.

“I commend the province for its commitment to partnership to tackle the impacts of homelessness in our community with this vital funding. Homelessness demands a unified effort, recognizing that no single entity can confront this complex issue alone. There is urgency to this mission and progress will be made through collective action.”

The county said the funding will be used “to expedite implementation of the full suite of services” planned for the Division Street facility. Based on the funding direction from the province, the money will support Northumberland County and Transition House Shelter with modernization of shelter services to reduce barriers for people seeking support, and will enable the accelerated implementation of transitional housing solutions at this location, the media release noted.

The county said these enhanced services “will be critical steps” towards resolving homeless encampments in the Town of Cobourg.

With the increasing impacts of homelessness facing Northumberland, the county announced in December 2023 it was continuing to seek out new opportunities for shelter, housing, and services to support vulnerable community members, which resulted in the partnership with Transition House.

“We are seeing the increasing impacts in Northumberland, with more people living rough in their cars, in parks and forested areas, individually or in encampments,” Mandy Martin, the previous county warden, said at the time.

“County council recognizes the need to rapidly expand new shelter, supportive, transitional, and affordable housing opportunities for vulnerable and low-income residents.”

During its December special council meeting about the shelter, county council heard from various people in support of, and against, the new facility.

Since then, the county has reached out to the community for input it intends to use to help shape integration of this shelter within the neighbourhood and the broader community. County council will receive during its regular March 20 county council meeting a report on feedback gathered through that process.

For more information about the modernization of shelter services at 310 Division St., visit northumberland.ca/sheltermodernization.

The Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha had donated $30,000 to help fund the cost of building a bathroom for patients at the Brock Primary Care Clinic in downtown Peterborough.

Located at the Brock Mission homeless shelter at 217 Murray Street, the clinic offers primary medical care for anyone experiencing homelessness — not just current shelter clients.

The clinic was co-founded in May 2022 by nurse practitioner Lee-Anne Quinn and Dr. Janet Kelly, who serves as the clinic’s collaborative physician. Along with Quinn and Dr. Kelly, nurse practitioners Anna Jamieson and Ginny Veselskiy, and Dr. John Beamish (retired medical director of Hospice Peterborough) currently volunteer at the clinic.

By providing primary care for people experiencing homelessness that addresses infections and chronic illnesses before they require serious medical intervention, the clinic alleviates stress on the emergency department at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre.

However, since it opened, the clinic has been operating without a bathroom that patients can use. Since many of the patients served by the clinic are not residents of the shelter, the lack of a bathroom has made it difficult for the clinic to obtain urine samples from those patients.

Clinic patients are asked to walk around half a kilometre to use the public washroom at the Peterborough police station on Water Street, and they often do not return to the clinic with their urine samples.

The lack of bathroom facilities also means the clinic cannot offer a shower to a homeless client.

Along with the $30,000 donated by the Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha, the Peterborough Family Health Team has also contributed $30,000 to the $60,000 cost for the bathroom, which will be built by Mortlock Construction.

“We are pleased and proud that we could fund this important project that assists those experiencing homelessness in our community,” says Kawartha Rotary president Paul Landau, in a media release. “I would like to thank community members who assist with our fundraising efforts by purchasing items during our Christmas auction or attend our annual summer Kawartha Ribfest.”

More than 300 people donned skates and glided towards a win for a regional children’s treatment centre and local skating oval.

Five Counties Children’s Centre and the Ontario Speed Skating Oval’s recent fundraising event, Candlelights for Kids, generated more than $1,800 for the two organizations.

The event featured an evening outdoor family skate at the Ontario Speed Skating Oval in Lakefield.

“From the perspective of Five Counties Children’s Centre and the Ontario Speed Skating Oval, we really appreciate the community support and are pleased at the results,” Five Counties spokesperson Bill Eekhof told kawarthaNOW. “This was the first-ever Candelights For Kids event, and with the winter that was this year, it was touch and go whether conditions would even be cold enough to have ice.”

“The event had to be postponed a week to see if things would improve weather-wise,” Eekhof added. “Fortunately, we did get a cold snap that created perfect outdoor skating conditions to accommodate the evening candlelight skating fundraiser on February 17. With more than 300 skaters who came out for the two skating times at the event, it proved to be a really good turnout.”

The event raised $1,840 that will be split between the two groups to support their work.

For Five Counties, the money will go directly to its Building Abilities for Life (BAL) campaign that helps reduce wait times and provide priority treatment services like speech and occupational therapies for children and youth in the region.

“We are thrilled to have partnered with the Ontario Speed Skating Oval for this family fun event that supports the life-changing work that we do every day,” said Lyn Giles, director of fund development with Five Counties, in a media release.

“We’re extremely grateful to all the skaters, volunteers, staff, donors and others who came out to make the event a success. We look forward to working with the Ontario Speed Skating Oval to making this an annual fundraiser.”

Participants skated on the outdoor 400-metre, natural-ice oval, illuminated by lights. This event was sponsored by Adventure Outfitters, Brants Basics, Havelock Metal, Grady’s Feet Essentials, Paluski Boats and Ruttle Group.

“The Oval organizes family-friendly fundraising events each year, and working with Five Counties to hold the first-ever Candelights For Kids was a perfect fit,” said Graham Wilkins, Ontario Speed Skating Oval director, in the release. “We’re grateful to our volunteers for helping us get the ice ready in time for the event, and we look forward to working with Five Counties to grow the event in the future.”

The Ontario Speed Skating Oval offers recreational skaters and speed skaters the opportunity to skate outdoors on the track, which is now closed for the season.

Peterborough Performs IV has raised more than $30,000 for the United Way Peterborough & District’s partner agencies supporting people in the community who are experiencing homelessness.

Held last Thursday (March 7), the benefit concert saw 16 acts perform on two stages at Showplace Performance Centre in downtown Peterborough. Along with ticket sales, there was also a virtual auction to raise additional funds.

Organized by Paul Rellinger, the event was supported financially by Peterborough Performs founder David Goyette, virtual auction sponsor LLF Lawyers, artist sponsors Miskin Law and Dr. Stephan Ragaz, and Local Love sponsors Ashburnham Realty, Sullivan Law, Brian Mulligan Desjardin Insurance, Lancer Electric, McDougall Insurance, and Swish.

In-kind donation sponsors were Andy Tough of RMS Events, Porter Sound, Long and McQuade, and Showplace Performance Centre, with kawarthaNOW as the exclusive digital media sponsor and the event emceed by Tiffany Arcari.

Thanks to the support of sponsors, the United Way was able to provide the over 40 local musicians and performers who offered to volunteer their time and talent with an honorarium.

After expenses, the total amount raised at this year’s event was $30,105 — the highest amount ever, bringing the grand total raised by Peterborough Performs since the first concert in March 2020 to $109,975.

While International Women’s Day is over, Peterborough isn’t done celebrating all the extraordinary contributions of women in the community.

Women United Peterborough has opened nominations for the inaugural Women of Impact Awards, which will recognize women and individuals who identify as women in the city and county of Peterborough who have gone above and beyond to demonstrate remarkable contributions in the community.

Twenty local women of diverse backgrounds and professions, to be selected by Women United Peterborough’s volunteer steering committee, will be honoured at an event on Thursday, May 30th at Keene’s Farmhill Weddings. Nominations for the award are open until Sunday, April 14th.

“Here in Peterborough City and County, our goal is to elevate the Women United movement and shine a spotlight on the incredible local women who are driving positive change,” says Maryam Monsef, founding chair of Women United Peterborough, in a media release. “Through our collective efforts, we aim to raise funds to support vital programs and initiatives that empower and uplift women and those who identify as women in our community.”

Launched in 2002, Women United is an international initiative of United Ways across the globe and, regionally, representing a collective of women, inclusive of those who identify as women and allies. Across North America, Women United has 70,000 women involved in 165 communities. In Peterborough, the initiative empowers women, girls, those who identify as women, and their families through mentorship, advocation, and amplification of marginalized voices.

“It’s about elevating the role of women in the community by thinking about challenges and gaps, and what we can do as women to support women and fund more initiatives and programs,” says Anne Ondercin, director of philanthropy at United Way Peterborough & District. “Through the pandemic especially, women became more disadvantaged, and it just hasn’t bounced back the same way, so we have to continually make sure that we don’t lose the progress that we make.”

While the role of Women United is to move towards empowering more women, it’s also about recognizing the successes and changemakers happening now, with the hope of inspiring others to follow in their footsteps.

“We want to encourage people to start thinking about recognizing the role that women play in the community and what we would be missing without it,” says Ondercin. “When women are supported socially and we remove those economic and social barriers, we’re providing a situation in an environment when girls and women and those who identify as women can lead to their full potential into the future.”

With the aim of always being inclusive, those nominated for the Women of Impact Awards can be living or deceased, be of any age and background, and can offer any story. Whether it’s women who have helped their neighbours, dedicated time to a cause or organization, advocated for marginalized groups, or offered their knowledge and resources to social advancement, there is a place for everyone in the awards.

“We really want to recognize the impact that women have every day, and particularly women who are the unsung heroes — women who are working tirelessly in the background and don’t necessarily get picked up for the prestigious awards,” Ondercin says. “Those are the stories we love because we want to show how together we can have an impact. Even if it seems to be smaller, the power of that collective impact on the community is really important.”

While details are still being finalized, the event at the woman-led Farmhill Weddings from 6 to 9 p.m. on May 30 will include opportunities to hear from speakers, connect with honourees, and celebrate women and those who identify as women in the community. Tickets will be on sale after the 20 award recipients are announced following the closing of nominations.

“We want to create that special feeling for women to come out and really feel like their heart is more fill than it was when they arrived,” says Ondercin. “Our goal is to really fill up women’s cups with recognition and gratefulness that we feel.”

Aligning with the nomination submissions period, Women United is hosting the inaugural session of their speakers series, held online from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday, March 25th.

Moderated by Monsef, the debut session will include local pioneers Lynn Zimmer, the founder of Interval House and former long-time executive director of YWCA Peterborough Haliburton, and Dr. Dawn Lavell-Harvard, the director of the First Peoples House of Learning at Trent University, who will speak on the struggle for a national inquiry on missing and murdered Indigenous women.

To register for the free webinar, visit www.uwpeterborough.ca/women-united-speaker-series/.

Moving forward, Women United will be seeking feedback from guests and viewers on the types of conversations they want to explore through the speaker series, with the aim of presenting three to five webinars over the course of the year.

“We are getting women connected and thinking about these conversations around women and having them in smaller digestible bits,” says Ondercin. “It’s an uplifting conversation, but we’re also learning about where we’ve been and that’s why this is a great first series.”

With the series highlighting conversations around progress and the past when it comes to women’s initiatives, the Women of Impact Awards is the focus of the impacts happening now from those in the community, while Women United continues to connect and open conversations surrounding future initiatives.

“It’s a really wonderful parallel to the work that United Way does in the community, because together we are stronger,” says Ondercin. “That’s what we’re aiming for with these Women of Impact Awards.”

Those looking to contribute to the Women United are encouraged to make a donation to United Way Peterborough at the leadership level by March 31 for it to be matched.

Visit www.uwpeterborough.ca/women-of-impact/ to nominate an individual. Women United are still seeking sponsors for the event. Email Anne Ondercin at aondercin@uwpeterborough.ca for more information.

It’s the first day of spring on Tuesday (March 19), but the City of Peterborough has already started its annual spring street maintenance program of street sweeping and pothole patching.

With the mild temperatures and lack of snow and ice, the annual program is beginning almost three weeks earlier than last year.

From March to May, the city’s street sweepers will be cleaning all 958 lane kilometres of roadways in the city, as well as city-owned sidewalks, trails, and parking lots. Many areas receive a secondary sweep as required, based on the amount of residue on the surface.

Each year, crews begin street sweeping at a different area of the city. This year, street sweeping will begin in the city’s east end, followed by the north and west ends and finishing in the south end. The work typically takes seven weeks to complete, depending on weather conditions.

The city is asking residents to keep streets clear by placing garbage and recycling containers on lawns or driveways, removing sports nets, and not parking on the street. This ensures the sweeping equipment can reach the full street surface.

The city is also asking residents to proceed with caution when approaching street-sweeping vehicles, and allow for plenty of room for safe operations.

The city’s public works crews are also patching potholes in city streets, which frequently happen in late winter and early spring when water gets below the surface of the road and is subjected to repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Water expands when it freezes and weakens the pavement, with traffic driving over weakened areas causing potholes.

The city is asking motorists to use caution and reduce speed when approaching road maintenance crews, leaving a safe distance for crews to complete their work.

While the city monitors and fixes road surfaces year-round according provincial maintenance standards as conditions permit, residents can report potholes that need attention using the online form at www.peterborough.ca/reportanissue.

In the realm of architecture and construction, innovation isn’t confined to towering skyscrapers or sprawling complexes. As we work toward meeting Canada’s climate targets, there is a growing recognition of the need for more sustainable, cost-effective, and resilient building materials.

Traditional building materials like concrete and steel often have significant environmental costs, from the depletion of natural resources and high emissions during manufacturing and transportation.

By turning to alternative materials, we can reduce the negative impacts of conventional construction and create structures that are not only durable and sustainable, but beautiful as well.

“We can create spaces where both people and nature can thrive — where we welcome nature back to our built environment, where we mimic natural cycles in the building materials we use and in the way we design our buildings,” says Jacob Rodenburg, executive director of Camp Kawartha, a children’s camp and education facility that has been at the local forefront of building with natural materials.

Whether by utilizing carefully sourced materials or repurposing waste products, these approaches can be used by individuals, businesses, and communities to build more sustainable structures tailored to their unique needs and environments.

There are countless options for alternative building materials, but the local agricultural sector makes straw bale building and hempcrete especially attractive.

The practice of straw bale building is exactly what it sounds like: using straw bales that are stacked, then plastered or encased to form walls that result in a structure with excellent insulation properties. Straw is an affordable, readily available agricultural product that is easy to source locally.

Hempcrete is another alternative building material that can be created with locally produced agricultural products.

Hemp hurds are a byproduct made from the woody stem residue that makes up the largest portion of the hemp plant. These hemp hurds are mixed with lime and water to create a strong, lightweight, and breathable alternative to concrete. This material can then be used to build self-insulating walls.

Rammed earth building, another hyper-local approach to building, does not rely on agriculture for production. Instead, this type of construction involves compacting a mixture of earth, gravel, sand, and a binder into a frame using techniques called tamping or ramming to create a solid wall.

In some cases, the soil removed to create the foundation of the building can be the same soil used to form the walls while, in other cases, materials are sourced from local quarries.

This method has been practised for centuries around the world and is renowned for its durability and thermal mass, which means it can store heat and protect against temperature fluctuations. Rammed earth buildings are easily recognized by their natural aesthetic, with walls showcasing beautiful layers of distinct textures and colours of the materials used.

All of these materials will be showcased for the public to enjoy during the “Building with Sustainable Materials” tour and talk on Thursday, March 28th from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Camp Kawartha Environment Centre at 2505 Pioneer Road in Peterborough.

Built in 2009 by students of Fleming College’s former Sustainable Building Design and Construction program, the Environment Centre demonstrates various innovative approaches to green architecture such as straw bale walls, thatched roofing, hempcrete and slip-straw insulation, as well as geothermal heating.

“It’s a place that shows that it is possible to live differently, to regenerate our built spaces, and to welcome nature back home,” Rodenburg notes.

Hosted by Green Economy Peterborough and Farms at Work, the “Building with Sustainable Materials” event will feature a guided tour of the Environment Centre alongside presentations from Rodenburg, Sylvia Cook of Aerecura, and Sharon Inward of Inward Design and Consulting.

As space is limited, interested participants are encouraged to register early at eventbrite.ca/e/857569241687.