The Sydenham River is deemed by many in the scientific community to be a biological treasure, and many of its inhabitants are in severe danger. That was the message brought out by the Sydenham River Recovery Team at a recent meeting in Dresden aimed at developing a recovery strategy for the Sydenham River.

"The recovery plan is aimed at preventing the extinction of eight endangered fish species, five mussel species and one turtle that inhabit the Sydenham River", explained Recovery Team member Al Dextrase of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. These species at risk have been Nationally listed as endangered or threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) . "Studies have found 80 species of fish and 34 species of freshwater mussels inhabiting the Sydenham and some of these species are very rare and some are found in only a few places in the world".

Many of the rare species of fish, amphibians and mussels in the Sydenham are sensitive to environmental change and act as "health monitors" in the Sydenham ecosystem. The loss of even one of these species could signal a reduction in the quality of water in the river. As well, each organism in any system is hereditarily important to that system. A single loss could have effects on each and every species in the river. The good news is that many of the endangered species are still present in the river and protecting and improving habitat will help insure their long term survival.

The Sydenham watershed drains a vast area of lowland. Historically, that drainage area was made up of swamp and forest. At the turn of the century, the land was harvested of trees and cleared for farming. To ease the large swamps that lay on the land and across proposed farms, intricate series' of ditches, spillways and tilling systems were installed to facilitate the quick passage of water off the land. In more recent times, populations have grown along the Sydenham corridor including communities such as Wallaceburg, Dresden, and Strathroy. All these communities and some smaller ones release their treated waste water in the river.

According to Recovery Team member Muriel Andreae, with the St Clair Region Conservation Authority, "Farming and population growths have added turbidity to the water. Mid depth pollutants such as silt, nutrients and chlorides make the Sydenham its creamy coffee colour. Quick runoffs from rainfall, livestock access to the water, low level tractor crossings, forced channelization and narrow bridges all add to the siltation problem while higher than Provincial Standard levels of nutrients comes from farms and sewage treatment plants". She went on to explain that there has been "significant erosion damage all along the river and chloride levels in the north branch of the Sydenham were five times above lethal levels at times due to oil well water from the Petrolia region being pumped into storm drains. That practice has since been halted and chloride levels are now near normal".

As problems are identified, remedies for often deadly symptoms can often easily be found. The Sydenham River Recovery Team is determined to address the problems of contaminants, pollutants, exotic species introductions and ecological changes that have a negative affect on the Sydenham river and watershed. A number of public meetings has been set up including the recent one in Dresden and are aimed at making the general public aware of the Species at Risk in the  Sydenham as well as encouraging public input in recognizing additional problems with the watershed and possible remedies. To date forty two additional concerns have been pinpointed by the public meeting and consultation process. Additional meetings will be held in Petrolia and Strathroy. 

"We hope to have a draft recovery plan by late sumer of 2001 and an official plan by this fall" said Dextrase. 

Interested parties wishing to receive a summary of the background information and recommendations are encouraged to contact the SCRCA at 519 245 3710 or can visit their website at www.scrca.on.ca/