Ellen's Creek Watershed

We monitor headwater flow in Ellen's Creek at a crossing on the Royalty Junction Road. No flow day happened on July 30 this year. We only observed it once before on August 9, 2016. Most years this location comes close to drying up but then the rain comes and keeps it flowing. Surface water levels throughout our management area are the lowest we have observed since 2012. Headwater springs that we have never seen stop flowing before have dried up (Hazards Creek for example).

Same street this week. The yard with the green grass is cut long. The yard with the brown grass is cut short.

Both trees were cut down this week. This is the sugar maple on May 20 this year. Could they have been saved? The trees were located directly under the rerouted transmission line. The answer from Maritime Electric and the Province would be no. It is hard to come up with solutions when public consultation is an afterthought.

Concerns were raised during the public consultation by the Province about the impact of the St Peter's Road intersection construction on the remaining Royalty Oaks Forest, and in particular, two trees over a hundred years old, a sugar maple and red oak. The trees remain standing but for how much longer after having almost half their root mass removed? The red oak is in the right foreground. The maple is visible in the background.

Not something you want to see but an amazing aerial view of an anoxic event in the Souris River. Wow!