The Pine River Watershed Initiative Network (PRWIN) recently announced its 2018 award winners. Pictured are Don Farrell (left), PRWIN Director and Project Supervisor, and Paul Austin, NWMO Relationship Manager.
The Pine River Watershed Initiative Network (PRWIN) recently announced its environmental awards of merit for 2018 at the Ripley-Huron Fall Fair. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) was one of five recipients that included volunteers, landowners, businesses, and youth that help the PRWIN achieve its mission of clean water and a healthy ecosystem within the Pine River Watershed.
“The NWMO is thrilled to partner with the PRWIN on many local initiatives to help keep our lakes and rivers healthy. Our top priority at the NWMO is protecting people and the environment, which includes the protection of water,” noted Paul Austin, Relationship Manager at the NWMO.
“The PRWIN does great work in the community and has earned people’s trust and respect across the region. The NWMO is proud to support the organization on its mission to contribute to a healthy watershed, and to improve water quality across the Pine River Watershed and Lake Huron.”
For the past 15 years, the PRWIN has partnered with local landowners and funders to implement in-ground projects to improve the habitat and water quality in the Pine River Watershed on the eastern shores of Lake Huron.
“In 2015, we walked into the NWMO office at the corner of Huron and Jessie Streets, and Paul Austin welcomed us in with open arms. We spoke at length of our organization’s mission, in-ground projects and programming,” said Penny Faragher Robertson, Acting PRWIN Coordinator.
“Since then, the NWMO has helped fund numerous educational school trips to the McLarty Environmental Study Area for local classes, our Potted Tree Ash Replacement Program for shoreline residents and our popular tree seedling giveaway program,” added Ms. Faragher Robertson. “Without the assistance of the NWMO for the past three years, we would not have been successful in delivering our programming to the community.”
A key requirement of the NWMO’s Adaptive Phased Management program – Canada’s approach for the safe management of used nuclear fuel – is to protect people and the environment, and that includes the Great Lakes and other water sources.