Agricultural Headwater Streams and Restoration Opportunities Bradley Wright Bradley Wright City of Ottawa City of Ottawa February 25, 2011

 Are small, but as much as 70% of water in large rivers is derived from first to third order streams (Vought et al., 1995)  Account for a significant portion of total stream length within watersheds (Sidle et al., 2000)  Provide habitat for unique and diverse assemblages of aquatic organisms (Dietrich and Anderson, 1995) Headwater Streams

Source: Kevin Cover, City of Ottawa Stream order characteristics in the City of Ottawa Stream Order Total Length (km) Percentage of Total Length (%) 12, , Total5,902

Agricultural Headwater Streams  70% of North American streams are impaired due to agricultural non-point source pollution (US EPA, 1996)  Loss of riparian vegetation, lack of substrate heterogeneity, reduced water quality  Channel removal, piping, straightening and realignment

Agricultural Headwater Streams  80% of agricultural land in southern Ontario artificially drained (Spaling and Smit, 1995)  Contaminant pathway for nutrients, pesticides and bacteria  Cumulative, large scale change to sediment and hydrologic regimes

River Continuum Concept Headwater streams are at the interface of the aquatic-terrestrial continuum Degradation and loss of headwaters and their connectivity to ecosystems downstream threaten the biological diversity of entire river networks

What is farming? “Designing and manipulating an ecological system to create a surplus of ecosystem goods for human consumption.” 1 What are ecosystem goods and services? “Goods are given monetary value in the marketplace, whereas services are valued, but are rarely bought or sold.” 2 Definitions Source: 1 Swinton, 2008; 2 Brown et al., 2006

“Design and management procedures that work with natural processes to conserve resources and minimize waste and environmental damage, while maintaining or improving farm profitability. Working with natural soil processes is of particular importance. Sustainable agriculture systems are designed to take maximum advantage of existing soil nutrient and water cycles, energy flows, beneficial soil organisms, and natural pest controls.” What is Sustainable Agriculture? Source: EAP, McGill University

Between 1995 and 2005 farm debt has increased by more than 90% to reach $51 billion 1 Higher input costs, lower commodity prices (or price volatility) High capital start up costs & land prices From 1991 to 2006, Canada lost over 60% of its farmers under the age of 35 2 Canadians spend 12% of income on food 3 Socio-Economic Trends Source: 1 National Farmers Union; 2 Statistics Canada, 3 Canadian Federation of Agriculture

Input Costs

Net Farm Income Source: Statistics Canada

Solutions for Headwater Streams and Agriculture - Policy  1975 Drainage Act – many headwater streams under municipal jurisdiction  Section 2.3 of the Provincial Policy Statement - protection or enhancement of headwater streams  The issue of tile drainage as a contaminant pathway needs to be addressed in the Nutrient Management Act

Component of source water protection Implement agricultural BMPs Implement watershed/subwatershed plans Education & stewardship Agricultural Land Trusts Incentives for ecosystem services ALUS (Alternative Land Use Services) Solutions for Headwater Streams and Agriculture – City/CA’s

The McVean New Farmers project is a partnership between Toronto and Region Conservation (TRCA) and FarmStart Solutions for Headwater Streams and Agriculture – Partnerships

Best Management Practices – research, funding, policies and success stories Raising awareness of consumers to support sustainable agriculture Solutions for Headwater Streams and Agriculture – Research

Buy local, buy organic Farmers Market Know a farmer Support local food NGO’s Make the connection between food security, human health and natural systems Solutions for Headwater Streams and Agriculture – Grassroots

“What we do to the land is reflected in the water.” Aldo Leopold