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The Judges Creek Restoration Project One of the main activities of the BB&DSFA is the Judges Creek Restoration Project which is a long term project to improve the water quality in an agricultural watershed on the Bruce Peninsula. It demonstrates what continued co-operation between sport-fishers, local farmers, cottagers, government agencies, and municipal officials can do to benefit all. This watershed is located close to or in the area of the Niagara Escarpment which has been given the designation of a "Biosphere Reserve" by the United Nations.
Aerial picture taken in August 1984 (photo by T. Boyle). Illustrates the muddy flume which flows from Judges Creek through the little lake of Barrow Bay (lower left side of first picture), into Georgian Bay. Second picture: Close-up of muddy water entering Georgian Bay. The Judges Creek watershed area. together with its 40 kilometers of tributaries drains a 7,600 hectare plain which was a cedar swamp before the area was settled over one hundred years ago. Since the mid-1930s, Judges Creek has been repeatedly dredged for agricultural purposes. It is regulated by the Province of Ontario and the Municipality on the Northern Bruce Peninsula as a municipal drain. The Eastnor Flats which extend west across the Bruce Peninsula nearly to Lake Huron is regarded as prime cattle country and recently tile drainage has been installed in many fields for cash crop opportunities. This has resulted in Judges Creek becoming a slow flowing muddy drain with a clay bottom and often unstable banks. In many areas of Judges Creek's of watershed, cattle had been permitted to regularly stand, drink and defecate in the creek. As a result, the Trout population had been forced to retreat back to the head waters for the only acceptable habitat. (see picture below left)
During the last fifteen years efforts are being made to correct the damage to the stream and the resultant poor water quality. The area around Little Lake is populated by both seasonal residents and cottagers. In the 1980s, the pollution concerns of Judges Creek were realized by the Barrow Bay Property Owners Association. This group of concerned landowners began, with the help of Federal and Provincial funding programs, the cleaning up of Judges Creek. As a result of this Association's work in the 1980s, some of the problems and solutions to the Judges Creek situation were identified and corrected. The Barrow Bay & District Sports Fishing Association is now carrying on this important work on Judges Creek with the cooperation of many of the upstream landowners and with some grant money from Ontario. Streams have been fenced and alternative watering methods have been constructed along with in-stream construction of wing deflectors for bank stabilization. Thousands of trees have been planted in the watershed to shade and cool the stream and stabilize the banks. Two new spawning lanes (about 175 feet long) in the lower Judges Creek to improve the spawning habitat for both Rainbow Trout and Chinook Salmon. (see photo below) |
