Committee marks 25 years of rehabbing Sudbury's Junction Creek

The Junction Creek Stewardship Committee is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Over the years, the non-profit environmental organization has helped to rehabilitate and beautify the waterway. Officials said the recent discovery of a new fish species is a sign the creek is becoming healthier.

Junction Creek is 52 kilometres long, winding from Garson to Lively, and connects to the Vermillion and Spanish Rivers draining into the North Channel of Lake Huron. (Photo from video)

Junction Creek is 52 kilometres long, winding from Garson to Lively, and connects to the Vermillion and Spanish Rivers draining into the North Channel of Lake Huron.

Stewards of the creek have volunteered their time to undo the damage caused by historic logging and mining practices.

"We’ve achieved a lot collectively as a community," said Miranda Virtanen of the Junction Creek Stewardship Committee.

"There have been over 90 thousand kilograms of garbage to date that we have removed from the creek and the shorelines. We have planted over 44,000 native trees and shrubs and pollinator plants. We have been releasing brook trout to reintroduce them into Junction Creek."

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Virtanen said the recent discovery of a new fish species shows their efforts are paying off.

Cleanup efforts have allowed a new species to thrive in Junction Creek -- the Mottled Sculpin, which is relatively sensitive to water quality. (Photo from video)

"The creek is also getting cooler as a result of all the vegetation planted along the shore, which is really important for fish like brook trout and the new species of fish that was recently discovered -- the Mottled Sculpin, which is relatively sensitive to water quality," she said.

"It needs cooler temperatures with high oxygen levels. So these are great accomplishments that wouldn’t be able to be achieved without the restoration efforts."

In the past 25 years, more than 46,000 volunteers have helped, along with many sponsors funding green initiatives.