Big Creek Watershed Control Phase 1

The Long Point Phragmites Action Alliance (LPPAA) is calling on landowners in the lower Big Creek watershed for help with the Long Point Phragmites control program. Phragmites is an aggressive invasive plant that can harm local biodiversity and impact farm crops and operations by clogging drains and blocking access to irrigation ponds. Until now, the control work has been focused in the marshes at Long Point and Turkey Point to restore biodiversity to these globally significant ecosystems.

Moving control from the shoreline up the Big Creek watershed is an important and natural next step to protect the substantial investments already made throughout the coastal wetlands.

With support from Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Long Point Phragmites Action Alliance developed Ontario’s first watershed-wide Phragmites control strategy. A 15-member Big Creek Watershed Subcommittee (BCWS) was established and includes several Norfolk County departments, the Long Point Region Conservation Authority, Norfolk Federation of Agriculture, Norfolk Woodlot Owners Association, and the Nature Conservancy of Canada as well as other stakeholders that are key to the operational delivery of a watershed-based control program.

If you have Phragmites on your property and you live in the lower Big Creek area, please contact the BCWS. This is your chance to receive financial and exterminator assistance to remove Phragmites from your property for good!  We need every landowner to participate so no Phragmites is left behind. Just one seed head can produce up to 10,000 viable seeds that are carried on the wind to new locations.

The BCWS is currently trying to reach every landowner in the Phase 1 area before July 2019 . If you, or someone you know owns property in Phase 1, please email the BCWS at bigcreekphrag@gmail.com.