Saint-Ignace, Québec – Walbridge Creek has been a consistent companion to Dawn S. and her family for over fifty years. Starting as a retirement dream for her and her husband, their house was built on the 1.5-acre property bit by bit.
“As soon as we got a little bit of money ahead, we bought more boards, more screws, more hammers, and we built our house.”
For their children, being able to visit the property was a motivation to keep up their marks in school. Dawn’s husband was an Archdeacon, meaning the family lived in clergy houses most of the time. Each time they moved to a new parish he would persuade the teachers to allow the kids to stay out of school on Monday, as otherwise they would have no weekend. As long as the children remained at the top of their classes, the family could spend time together Sunday to Monday at their property along the creek.
In time their grandchildren also found appreciation for the creek, creating their own worlds of play at the water’s edge.
Dawn’s family has witnessed the creek change overtime. When a new bridge was placed up the road, the flow of water increased. One winter, heavy ice backed up the creek and the flow was so strong that their small humpback bridge over the creek was washed away. Increased upstream flows and erosion continue to move the creek closer to their house, taking out some trees. To access their creek’s far side, the family must go around part of the highway.
“I’ve always been attracted to water, particularly for the calming effect. It’s not so calm with spring run-off, mind you. Sometimes it comes quite far up onto our property if there’s a blockage or something, or the ice that comes down is too big and blocks. Other than that, it’s just comforting to know that it’s there,” Dawn said.
When Alex at Organisme Bassin Versant Baie Missisquoi (OBVBM) reached out to Dawn in the summer of 2023 about the possibility of doing a free and voluntary Stream Wise/Rives Actives property assessment, she said absolutely.
Together, Alex and Dawn toured the property in July, looking at various metrics within the first fifty plus feet from the creek’s edge.
Dawn’s maintenance of the property along the creek earned her the Rives Actives Award for Best Management Practices in a Vegetated Buffer. Sites that are awarded this Rives Actives Award represent model, stream-friendly properties.
“It was a pleasant experience, and it was good to know that we were living within the margins of keeping the property natural. And that that’s important to us. We have a section of it, of course, with the house and the garage that we cut back to. But we don’t go close to the creek. We have one path, it’s not paved or stoned or anything like that, it’s all natural. I was very happy when he said that we got a very good report.”
The Rives Actives Award now hangs on a tree that all company coming from the house sees on their way out. Dawn maintains her bragging rights: “People say, ‘what’s that all about?’ Well, you know, we have perfect land here.”
If you own property with a brook, stream or river and are curious about having a Stream Wise assessment, or if you are ready to volunteer, contact us!