Ellen’s Creek Watershed Group
© Ellen’s Creek Watershed Group, 2014
News
2015 - Development of a city-wide Brook Trout Management Plan
In 2015 the City of Charlottetown adopted a “City of Charlottetown Brook Trout Conservation and
Protection Plan”. This plan, developed by a steering committee made up of city officials and members of
the Ellen’s Creek Watershed Group and the Wright’s Creek Environmental Committee, was guided by noted
environmentalist, Ms. Megan Harris.
The plan focuses on steps needed to restore and maintain Brook Trout habitat in the Ellen’s, Wright’s and
Hermitage creeks. Because a healthy Brook trout population is the central indicator of water course and
watershed health all parties agreed this was the place to begin an overall, city-wide watershed plan.
February, 2020 Brookie Award Presented to Dr. John Andrew
The “Brookie Award” was created by the Ellen’s Creek Watershed Group as an award of excellence to an individual,
organization or business demonstrating commitment and leadership in promoting urban watershed health. The
award is named after the “brookie” (an informal name for brook trout) in recognition of the correlation between
watershed health and the health of its brook trout population.
Periodically the Brookie is awarded to an
individual or group that has made an outstanding contribution to
the health of city watersheds.
Dr. John W. Andrew co-chairs the Wright’s Creek Watershed
Environmental Committee that is responsible for the health of the
Wright’s Creek and Andrew’s Pond. John was instrumental in
returning the Creek and the Pond to environmental health from
their moribund state years back. The Andrew family have been
stewards of the land and water in East Royalty for generations. John
brings to his community a strong commitment to the health of
individuals, the health of his community, and the health of the
environment.
During each summer for the past three years, Holland College Environmental Applied Science Technology students and
faculty examined the ecological health of eleven (11) ponds within the City of Charlottetown and one (1) reference
pond outside the City, in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada. The project collected data on surface water quality,
sediment chemistry and through macroinvertebrate surveys using the Hilsenhoff’s Family Biotic Index (FBI), delineated
the overall ecological health of the ponds sampled.
The information collected will help determine the underlying issues responsible for the relatively poor ecological health
of some of the ponds surveyed. It will allow the City of Charlottetown and local watershed groups to develop action
plans to improve or preserve the ecological health of the ponds studied.
2019 Ecological Health of Ponds in Charlottetown Report
2018 Ecological Health of Ponds in Charlottetown Report
2017 Ecological Health of Ponds in Charlottetown Report
Climate Change
In 2019, the City of Charlottetown joined hundreds of other Canadian municipalities in declaring a Climate Emergency.
All over the globe the severe impacts of climate change are being experienced and are quite costly for governments and
individuals who are dealing with extreme weather, infrastructure damage, displacement, and adaptation and mitigation
efforts.
The City of Charlottetown took part in 'Municipalities and Utilities Partnering for Resilience' project led by QUEST
(Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow) in 2019. The first phase of this process involved the collaboration of
various stakeholders and City departments in assessing the City of Charlottetown's risk and resilience, specifically when
it comes to extreme weather events in the context of climate change. The second phase compiled some key findings
and recommendations of how to bolster our climate change resilience moving forward.
See the City of Charlottetown’s web page on Climate Change
To see the QUEST report, click here
In the summer of 2020, Harriet Laver, a 2nd UPEI Coop student, hired by Ellen’s Creek Watershed Group as an
Environmental Data Analyst undertook a study to take a look at the effects of weather on the number of the young-of
-the-year (YOY) brook trout. Harriet didn't find a correlation between overall temperatures and the number of YOY
brook trout but she did find a correlation between the number of freeze/thaw cycles over the winter . Harriet
accurately predicted that the YOY results for Ellen's Creeks annual electrofishing survey would be up based on the
correlation she made. It is significant because climate change is expected to result in more freeze thaw cycles and
less snow.