Bonnechere River Watershed Project

The Bonnechere River Watershed Project is an incorporated, not-for-profit organization that is managed by a volunteer Board of Directors. The Board works in partnership with organizations that share its values and relies on the help of volunteers to implement its projects.

The Bonnechere River Watershed Project was initiated in 1998 by the Renfrew County Stewardship Council. It is a community based, volunteer organization that undertakes projects to enhance the environment and improve water quality in the streams, lakes and river course of the watershed.

The Board has approved a statement of values, called the Watershed Way which guides the manner in which it operates and its relationship with communities in the watershed.

Our Vision and Objectives

Vision:

The Bonnechere River Watershed Project promotes and enhances the quality and integrity of the environment and the life it supports through voluntary action of individuals and community groups within the watershed.

Objectives:

• To develop a community based, volunteer organization
• To better understand the watershed
• To improve the level of public understanding
• To achieve tangible environmental improvements

Why a Watershed Approach?

Applying a watershed approach to sustaining the Bonnechere River system is essential because everything along it is interconnected and events that occur in one place may affect other areas. A chemical spill, cattle watering in the river or a faulty septic system in Wilno, Golden Lake or Eganville can affect water quality downstream in Douglas or Renfrew. The actions of each person, living in or visiting the Bonnechere Watershed can have an impact on water quality or other aspects of the environment.

Many people living in or using the Bonnechere Watershed have an interest in the health of the system and are willing to volunteer their time and expertise to work cooperatively towards enhancing the quality and integrity of the watershed. By using a partnership approach there is an opportunity to combine resources, achieve greater local initiative, responsiveness and control.

Watershed Way

A statement of our values as individuals within an organization and responsible to our communities…

At our meetings:

• We are open-minded, respectful, and listen with good humour to understand where others are coming from. We are naturally interested in constructive, honest consideration in order to learn where others’ agenda, point of view or biases may be.
• We focus on our vision for the betterment of the watershed, on long-term gains, and not on what might be best for us individually.
• We work as a team that seeks consensus, and feel free as individuals to speak up, without censure by others, if we feel the team is off track, even when it goes against the group thinking.

We believe:

• in a shared vision for the watershed, that this common vision is paramount, and that we have many common interlocking interests, even though we represent diverse groups. In this respect, we are a reflection of the diversity of the watershed ecosystem;
• in mutual respect for one another’s expertise, honesty and integrity;
• that we are colleagues, not a hierarchy, and that the Board as a whole has the final say and controls all policies and decisions;
• that we have the right to table any issue, but recognize that there will be priorities;

We communicate with others as we would have them communicate with us.

We seek to achieve win-win, balancing our competitiveness with respect and honesty, standing up for what we believe in but always having consideration for others. We do not allow competing interests to over-ride our vision for the watershed.

We agree to support a majority decision.

As an organization:

• If the watershed wins then none of us will lose, and if any one interest wins out we believe the watershed will lose.
• We constantly train and prepare new people, and regularly recognize people’s volunteer efforts, tangible and intangible. To do the best job, we develop and maintain a profile of volunteers to know their strengths and areas of expertise.
• We talk about the risks of overwork and bring it to the attention of others because we are aware that there is a life outside the Bonnechere River Watershed Project. Our families and livelihoods come first.

As community leaders:

• We base our efforts on a general understanding of grassroots issues and viewpoints and a desire to represent them.
• We lead by example, “fixing our own septic system before we complain about someone else’s”.
• We don’t just volunteer – we do it!
• We value age and gender representation, but not at the expense of democratic process.
• We are prepared to lead and follow.

In relation to our communities:

• We view the Bonnechere Watershed as a birthright, maintained by good stewardship for all inhabitants within its boundaries and generations yet to come.
• We influence, we do not control, representing the community and all its aspects.
• We hold the same values externally as in our meetings.
• We communicate 100%, conveying messages that we hold in common that have been agreed upon by the Board. We communicate not just the facts but the heart and soul of the Bonnechere, which has been the life blood of inhabitants since 10,000 BC.