Eramosa Karst

Today was like a flash back to the days of when I was a kid, I went out to the brand new Eramosa Karst Conservation area and was given a personal guided tour from Brad Gautreau from the " Friends of The Eramosa Karst", a group that was started to save these cherished lands.

It was great to see a new Conservation area open up, we need it, it is good for the environment, its good for us to view and appreciate mother nature, and it is fascinating to say the least to see what was created for our enjoyment.

This area is like no other, and I look forward to seeing it developed and built for us to enjoy in the years to come.

When is the last time you have seen a spring just pop out of the earth?

When is the last time you have seen a cave?

When is the last time you saw marks in rock left by retreating glaciers?

Its all here and more at the new Eramosa Karst Conservation Area.

Now, here is where it gets interesting.

Lets go back to my " City of Waterfalls" idea.

The first thing we need to do is to protect the water that feeds the waterfalls.

No water, no falls.

We are on the verge of understanding why we should be promoting ourselves as " The Waterfall Capital of The World", so we need to protect the water that feeds the falls, just like they do in Niagara Falls.

I spent a few days at Niagara Falls last week, can you imagine what would happen if we took away the water that feeds the falls?

Wow, what an economic impact that would make.

City officials cant see or don't care to see the importance of our gift that we have been given by Mother Nature here and how it could determine the direction that we take in promoting our City and ourselves.

I have learned a lot in the last few weeks on this matter, and a lot has been accomplished on this front, but we have a long way to go also.

Like I have said before the job of running our City and deciding what and where we go is not always at the direction of our elected officials, and I need to look no further than this project alone, with " The friends of Eramosa Karst" being one of the lead groups that is educating all of us on this incredible gift we have.

So, here is what I learned on my guided tour today along with some maps and satellite imagery to back it all up.

The water is and around the Eramosa Karst area feeds Felker Falls.

Change this and that changes Felker Falls.

There are some lands that are disputed around the new conservation area, the Ontario Realty Corporation ( ORC) wants to sell the lands to developers.

Friends of The Eramosa Karst and others want the lands handed over to the Hamilton Conservation Authority as they want to bring it back to one of a natural habitat for the animals.

Here though is where I have a problem with those lands being sold.

Sell the lands and you will change the ground water patterns that feed the karst that feed the falls.

We still don't know though whats under these grounds, they can still evolve as the years go on.

Are we that hard up for land that we cant hand over this parcel of land?

Do we want to mess with mother nature and take that chance of changing the ground water pattern?

Do we want to risk changing the flow of water over the falls?

Why am I getting involved?

I have a lot of money involved in my waterfall plan, not to mention time and resources.

Its a personal one to, although I just thought of this today, you see my father and grandfather farmed the land not to far from here, and drank the water from the ground, so you might say that has been transferred to me...

To me this is a " BIG PICTURE" item here folks, I am thinking long term and far down the road, this conservation area will be a big one down the road, and will help define our city also.

I am already beyond this, we need to look at every stream, every river in Hamilton and study it and learn from it and also educate others including private land owners as to how important they are for our waterfalls.

This can all be fixed politically.

http://www.chrisecklund.com/