Living by Water

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Living by Water

The Living by Water (L by W) Project is a national initiative to encourage and support individual shoreline residents across the country in the vision of "Working towards healthier human and wildlife habitat along the shorelines of Canada."

National website for Living by Water

Through services and products which emphasize benefits to them personally (health, financial, recreational, etc.) we are encouraging shoreline residents to adopt more environment-friendly lifestyles, to initiate on-the-ground activities to protect and restore shorelines, and to influence others in their communities.

Nature Saskatchewan is the regional partner for delivery of Living by Water educational products and programs in Saskatchewan. Programs are available for shoreline residents, cottage associations, stewardship groups and youth.

Handbook for living along or near Shorelines

One of the primary tools for Living by Water is On the Living Edge: Your Handbook for Waterfront Living (Saskatchewan/Manitoba edition). If you live on the edge of a lake, river or stream, this book will protect your investment and create more time for you to enjoy your waterfront setting. Sarah Kip and Clive Callaway share their personal experiences of living by water in this user-friendly handbook. This book includes informative tips, advice, useful references, illustrations, and stories to help you with the unique challenge of waterfront living in rural and urban areas for both seasonal and year-round residents.

Topics Include:

septic systems, wells, & water quality
erosion control and flooding
docks, boating, and beaches gardening, fertilizers, & hobby farms
habitat restoration, wildlife, & fishing
building design, construction & landscaping
environment-friendly household products & hazardous materials

On the Living Edge: Your Handbook for Waterfront Living (SK/MB Edition) is available from Nature Saskatchewan for only $14.95. REDUCED PRICE! Save $5.00

A PDF Living on the Edge Order Form is available for your convenience. Take advantage of the bulk order rates for your community group - order a box of 34 books for only $300.00 plus shipping & handling ($8.82/book). It is possible for everyone around your lake to own a copy.

NEW in 2007! Shoreline Presentations for Your Community

Available on CD for free!

Nature Saskatchewan's six Living by Water Powerpoint presentations, all on one CD, are now available upon request. These presentations will assist in awareness and education about "caring for your shoreline", to the benefit of natural ecosystems and people, by providing a ready-made presentation that can be used by individuals and groups with varying levels of knowledge. Shoreline groups can deliver these in their communities!

The Six Shoreline Presentation modules include:

Learning About Your Shoreline
- Answers the questions: What is a healthy shoreline? What is affecting our shoreline? and What can we do to help keep our shoreline healthy?
Shoreline Landscaping and Erosion Control
- Offers easy techniques for landscaping as erosion control, view maintenance, and time saving, while touching on issues like invasive species and retaining walls.
Agriculture, Our Cottage and Us: How We Can Make A Difference
- A shorter module that looks at agriculture, cottagers and their relationship to water and lakes.
Shoreline Construction
- Focuses on shoreline construction projects (e.g. decks, docks, drainage and trails), builder, and shoreline rights, legalities, permits and contacts.
Septic Systems
- Explores the world of septic systems and new alternatives for safe waste management and water quality.
Water Supplies
- Offers expertise on wells and drinking water at the lake.

Shoreline Workshops

Nature Saskatchewan's Living by Water workshop facilitator assists stewardship groups in hosting a workshop in their community that is tailored to the specific interests of the group. Workshops can vary from an evening presentation to a 1 or 2 day event.

Workshops and events in 2007 included:

Prince Albert National Park (July 26 & 27) - our Living by Water summer student Ben Brodie provided a day of education and exploration for park visitors as part of their Explorer of the Shore event.
Last Mountain Lake (July 28) - Ben Brodie, Kim Epp of Chickadee Tours, Margaret Skeel of Nature Saskatchewan, and Sherry Forsyth of the Last Mountain Lake Stewardship Group, organized and delivered a shoreline workshop for residents at Arlington Beach. The day included a creek dipping session, a “Learning About Your Shoreline” presentation, bat program, BBQ and shoreline walk.
Blackstrap Lake (August 26) - Dennis Lawson, the Living by Water workshop facilitator, along with Barbara Makeechak of the Blackstrap Watershed Stewards and Ben Brodie, organized and delivered a shoreline workshop consisting of a morning session on water quality/algae and an afternoon session on shoreline erosion.
Last Mountain Lake (Oct 1) - Dennis Lawson, the Living by Water workshop facilitator, gave a public presentation on “Nutrients and Nuisance Algae in the Lakes of SK’s Cottage Country” at Regina Beach.