District of the Municipality of St. Mary's, Nova Scotia

St. Marys River

Protecting the St. Mary's River

The St. Mary's River has seen many changes in it's landscape over the past 200 years. Forestry, mining, shipbuilding, recreation, agriculture and pasture activities have all influenced it's seasonal flow and modified water quality, clarity and temperature. It can go from a mere trickle during droughts, to raging swells during spring and fall freshets or floods. Occasionally a change from gently flowing to flooding may occur within a matter of hours with little forewarning to those who live within its path.

Although droughts and floods are natural processes, they are direct responses to changes in the local, regional, and global environment. The river's ability to adapt to these changes is a testament to their power and vulnerability.

Sherbrooke grew out of forestry and mining industries when resources were plentiful and resource extraction practices had little regard for protecting water quality. People did not have the knowledge and appreciation that we have today about the effects of logging, mining, agriculture and building adjacent to water bodies and water courses. The result of logging, building and developing flood plains, is an increase in frequency and flow of water. As populations grow, resources become more difficult to extract causing a change in land-use practices. Logging, for example, changed from selective cutting using horses to more large scale clear-cutting with machinery. Today, forest management plans are reconsidering selective logging as sustainable practices for future generations.

Maintaining sufficiently vegetated buffers along watercourses and waterbodies provides protection from human activity that would otherwise harm or destroy this valuable resource. Leaving flood plains naturally vegetated and undeveloped provides sufficient room for rivers to expand without damaging embankments by erosion or destroying adjacent property throughout the watershed. It is important to leave buffers along the St. Mary's River especially where the river narrows so that existing development along the river will be protected from excessive damage. Although we prepare for floods that my occur in 100 year patterns by building earth dams and stronger bridges, we cannot anticipate the waters intensity. Land-Use Planning and Watershed Management efforts attempt to protect water, landscapes and property from further damage by maintaining vegetated buffers between water and development.