Friends of the Tay Watershed Association

The “Friends of the Tay Watershed” is a non-profit, incorporated, charitable association of residents, associations, and other organizations interested in the welfare of the Tay watershed, formed to assist in the implementation of Tay River Watershed Management Plan and to involve landowners, users, and other stakeholders in programs to maintain and improve the health of the Tay River watershed in Eastern Ontario

The Friends are carrying forward the work of the Tay River Watershed Round Table, an association of government agencies and ministries, lake and cottage associations, and other wildlife and environmental organizations, formed to assist in the implementation, monitoring and updating of the management Plan.

The objective of “Friends of the Tay Watershed” is to involve landowners, users, communities, government agencies and ministries, business and other interested parties in programs aimed at improving the health of the Tay River Watershed, by implementing the watershed management plan, and monitoring, maintaining and improving wildlife habitat, recreation, watershed stewardship education, and water quality and quantity in the Watershed.

The “Friends of the Tay Watershed” welcome any person or organization interested in the care and maintenance of the Watershed. This includes residents of all ages, from the six municipalities within the watershed (South Frontenac, Central Frontenac, Rideau Lakes, Tay Valley, Drummond North Elmsley, and Perth), and residents from other areas who value and use the watershed. It includes organizations as members, such as lake and cottage associations, and other associations concerned with, for example, the protection of wildlife, the environment, recreation, shorelines, wetlands, surface and ground water supply, and land use.

Description of the Tay River Watershed
The Tay River watershed is tied together by the Tay River, running 95 kilometres, from its headwaters in the southeast in a north-easterly direction to its exit into the Rideau River. It passes through six municipalities and two counties. It drains 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 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 provincially significant wetlands, including the Tay Marsh.

For more detailed information on the Association and the Watershed, please visit: www.taywatershed.ca