Protecting streams and waterways is essential for maintaining healthy ecosystems, clean drinking water, fisheries, recreational activities and much more. Due to various stressors including pollution from agricultural runoff and excessive development without adequate environmental protections, water quality can become impaired, leading to a host of negative impacts.

​

​

​​

Little Sauble River

 

This is why PWEP is launching a program to restore and protect the Little Sauble River, a unique water feature and designated Provincial Fish Sanctuary. It is a spawning location for Great Lakes steelhead, Coho and Chinook Salmon, Brown Trout, and more. The Little Sauble runs through agricultural land, including the Bourgeois Farm, the Tidman property, and Inverhuron Provincial Park before feeding into Inverhuron Bay.

 

By monitoring water quality, working with experts to identify restoration strategies, and reaching out to landowners to implement them, we aim to improve the river's condition over time, creating a healthier environment for humans and wildlife. 

 

Going forward, we hope to expand the program to monitor water quality in the Tiverton Creek and Inverhuron Bay as well. In the meantime, cleaning up the Little Sauble will already have a direct and positive impact on the water quality in Inverhuron Bay. 

​

 

Background

 

Back in 2023, PWEP started voicing concerns about the proposed Tidman development. The Little Sauble River runs through the lands to be developed, and we were surprised to discover that the water quality of the river hadn't been considered, or even tested, as part of the subdivision application. PWEP therefore commissioned an expert water quality report. The results showed that existing water quality in the Little Sauble is already impaired, and that therefore the river has no further carrying capacity for any additional stressors, such as would likely be produced by a development such as the one that is being proposed.

​

Ever since learning that the river was in trouble, we've been wanting to get to work on restoring it, and now, finally, we've been able to gather the necessary resources to get started.

​

 

Get involved! 

 

As part of our Little Sauble River Water Quality Monitoring and Restoration Program, we are offering water quality training programs to the local community. Participants will learn the necessary skills to monitor basic physical and chemical parameters. The program will take place at the Bourgeois Farm in Inverhuron and will be free and open to the public. In addition, there will be the opportunity for a limited group of participants to learn the basics of gathering benthic samples.

​

 

Goal

 

To provide an opportunity for hands-on learning and work towards a robust citizen science project that puts oversight and stewardship of the Inverhuron waterways back in the hands of the local community.

​

 

SPRING 2026 UPDATE:

 

We are holding our first ever Water Seminar this July, Thursday the 2nd at the Bourgeois Farm in Inverhuron! Mark your calendars, and look out for details and updates in our Newsletter