Sydenham River Watershed

The Sydenham River recovery strategy is an excellent example of an ecosystem approach to recovering species at risk. This multi-species watershed recovery strategy is seen as the first of its kind in Canada. Once completed, this strategy may be used as a model to assist similar conservation efforts in other aquatic ecosystems.

About the Sydenham River

Sydenham River Recovery Team

The Sydenham River watershed is part of the Lake St. Clair drainage in southwestern Ontario. The system—which extends over 100 kilometres, averages 38 kilometres in breadth and has a total drainage of 2,735 square kilometres—is home to at least 80 fish species and 34 freshwater mussel species.

The Canadian distributions of these fish and mussels are restricted to the Sydenham River, thus creating a unique ecosystem that many researchers regard as a biological treasure. Yet five of its mussel species are endangered, two of its fish and one reptile species are threatened, and several other fish in the system are of special concern according to COSEWIC.

The threat

Zebra mussels in the Great Lakes have decimated local populations of native mussels, leaving inland streams their only refuge. But these inland streams—such as the Sydenham River watershed—have been degraded by human activity. For most Sydenham River system species, the major threat is siltation and associated turbidity caused by agricultural practices and the alteration of shoreline.

What’s being done

The Sydenham River recovery strategy is a six-year strategy (to end in 2005) that involves field surveys of mussel and fish species at risk, the development of a database of the watershed geography, and the collection and synthesis of information on land use and water quality in the area. This information is being used to help guide habitat stewardship initiatives—initiatives that cost-effectively address the complexities of aquatic community conservation.