Tag Archives: Grand River Watershed

CKMS News -2025-09-18- “For the water behind the dams”, Walking the Grand River as ceremony

CKMSNews -2025-09-17- Grand River Water Walk 2025

dan kellar
Waterloo Region, ON
 – Most people that have walked with us say they have been transformed in how they appreciate the water and appreciate the land”. Those are the worlds of Mary Anne Caibaiosai, an Anishnaabe woman who has since 2018 been organising the Grand River Water Walk. Caibaiosai spoke to CKMS News earlier this week.

Now in its 3rd year of its second 4 year cycle, Caibaiosai also reminds folks that the walk is not a “social event or political statement, but a ceremony. This year’s walk, which begins on September 21st at the mouth of the river near Dundalk “is for the water behind the dams”.  The  walk, down to the river’s mouth at Lake Erie, is for people of all nations and it follows the protocols of Josephine-baa Mandamin, who led water walks around the Great Lakes prior to her passing in 2019.

This show features an interview with Mary Anne Caibaiosai

Garlic Mustard poses a threat to the Grand River Watershed

MP Holmes
Kitchener, ON

People out for their daily walks in the Waterloo Region may have noticed a tall plant with the clusters of white flowers. It’s the garlic mustard plant — and it’s invasive, destructive, and spreading.

Garlic mustard may not be the most egregious of the invasive species, but it is the most widespread. The plant spreads quickly through seed dispersal  and dense stands of garlic mustard can produce more than 60,000 seeds per square meter and can double in size every four years.

National Invasive Species Awareness Week runs from May 12th to the 18th to encourage Canadians to take action to stop the spread of invasive species.

Ron Wu Winter of the Grand River Conservation Authority describes Garlic mustard’s spread, the challenges it poses for removal and control, and its ability to release chemicals that inhibit the growth of native plants.