River basin ecosystem restoration: A comparison of conservation authority effort

This thesis reviews a series of river basin ecosystem restoration/enhancement projects carried out under the direction of three individual southern Ontario conservation authorities in their respective river basins. The three authorities are the Grand River Conservation Authority, the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority, and the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority.;A review from the published literature dealing with river basins, ecosystems, and environmental management supports the analysis of restoration projects. The criterion by which the literature articles were selected was that they have relevance to the type of environmental issues that are common to the river basins in the study areas. Comparisons made between the three conservation authorities' restoration efforts are based on the investigation and assessment of a sample of four published restoration projects on file at each of the authorities' head offices. A five component conceptual framework was used to analyze each of the twelve projects. The accumulated assessment data formed the basis for comparison.;No doubt, the river basin has been shown to be the logical geographical area in southern Ontario on which to base conservation management strategies. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).