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Tributary - Tay Riverwatcher

Property Mineral Rights – How to determine Yours

Because there is considerable confusion about which properties have retained the mineral rights with surface rights, in Ontario, The Friends of the Tay River have posted on their website an explanation of how to determine this on the Internet.

Where is the Tay River Watershed?

The Tay River watershed, tied together by the Tay River, runs 95 kilometres, north-easterly, across the top of the Rideau system, through six municipalities and two counties, draining 45 lakes, including, in the highlands, Bobs and Crow Lakes, a primary reservoir for the Rideau Canal – and numerous wetlands, such as the Tay Marsh, and streams, including Grant’s and Jebb’s Creeks.

The Tay River watershed covers six municipalities in Ontario: Tay Valley; Drummond North Elmsley; Town of Perth; Central Frontenac; South Frontenac; Rideau Lakes.

The watershed is noted for its geologic (as well as biologic) diversity, with its upper two-thirds lying in the forested Frontenac Axis of the Canadian Shield, giving way to the more populated Smiths Fall Limestone Plain, with a traditional agricultural base and several significant wetlands, including the Tay Marsh.

History of the Tay River Watershed

The Tay has been a ‘managed’ river since 1866, when the Canadian Government built a dam at the top of the watershed, at the exit from Bobs Lake, to establish a major reservoir to feed the Rideau Canal and river system. The dam is raised or lowered to control the amount of water required to maintain a target minimum draft (of five feet) for boating throughout the Rideau Canal. This water policy is developed and implemented by Parks Canada. In 2002, the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, in cooperation with a group of citizens and other stakeholders, developed the Tay River Watershed Management Plan. This Plan documented the status of the watershed’s water resources and laid out a plan for monitoring and maintaining them. A local volunteer association was established to manage the Plan – the Friends of the Tay Watershed. Further information is available on the friends’ web site

The most significant threats to the Tay river wateshed

  1. Human encroachment/activities on watershed lakes and river. Generally public apathy as regards the value of water and its importance to communities is a concern; however we expect that this will change in the medium term. Movements, such as landowners associations could well thwart on-going attempts at improving watershed health.
  2. Nutrient loading from stormwater (Town of Perth) and agriculture runoff and practices. However, water quality has improved throughout the watershed over the past five years due largely to shoreline improvements/fencing on the part of lake associations, stewardship councils and Conservation Authority.
  1. Invasive species including the zebra mussels, frog-bit, spiny water fleas, and loosestrife (all present)

    Contact

    Christopher Stone, Friends of the Tay Watershed
    P.O. Box 2065, 57 Foster St., Perth, On, K7H 3M9
    Phone: (613) 267.1026 or email
    Website: www.tayriver.org


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