Nature and Outdoors

• Rainfall
• Snow and ice melt
• Activities such as washing cars or watering lawns

Stormwater management ponds are designed to

• temporarily hold runoff water
• provide treatment to remove pollutants
• slowly release the water back into the natural waterway.

The slow release of water prevents flooding and erosion further downstream.

• Dramatic changes in water level during and after rainfall or snowmelt
• Sudden drop-offs
• Subsurface currents
• Retained contaminants
• Risk of entanglement with vegetation or debris
• Unsafe ice 

Stormwater management ponds can also serve as wildlife habitats. Feeding wildlife is prohibited in these areas.

Feeding wildlife can encourage animals to become more bold or likely to approach humans. It can discourage animals from foraging for natural food sources and make spreading diseases easier.

• Water levels may change rapidly—for your safety, do not enter the pond.
• Stormwater ponds are designed to retain contaminants.
• Stormwater management ponds are never safe for skating. Ice conditions can change quickly and without warning. Winter runoff, including salt and sand from roads, driveways, and sidewalks, enters under the ice surfaces, causing the ice to thin.

Long grasses act as a natural filter that helps improve water quality. Stormwater management ponds are not maintained as parks because they are essential infrastructure that help clean runoff water and prevent erosion and flooding.

How can I help?

• Install a rain barrel.
• Direct downspouts into your lawn, not the road or sidewalk.
• Minimize the use of fertilizers and pesticides.
• Avoid excess salting.
• Dispose of waste, including compost, yard waste, pet waste, and garbage on your scheduled waste pick up days. Never dump waste into the stormwater management pond or surrounding area.
• Dispose of hazardous waste at designated disposal sites.
• Never release pets into the wild.
• Keep catch basins clear.

Foraging has become a popular way for people to gather food from nature. Over-harvesting damages the ecosystem by making it more difficult for plants to reproduce and thrive and by depleting food sources for local wildlife.

Things to consider

• Foraging in Clarington's parks is prohibited.
• Before you begin foraging, check with the land owner to see if foraging is permitted.
• Look up a guide on sustainable and ethical foraging.
• It is illegal to forage any plants protected under the Species at Risk Act.

To organize a cleanup in your neighbourhood, contact operations@clarington.net or 905-623-3379 ext. 2661. Let us know which park, trail, or green space you’ll be cleaning and how many people will be helping out. We’ll provide garbage bags and gloves and coordinate the disposal of the collected waste.

Cleanup safety tips:

• Wear gloves while picking up waste.
• Avoid touching your face.
• Immediately wash or sanitize your hands when you’re done collecting waste.
• Supervise children and don’t let children wander off alone.
• Avoid unsafe areas such as railway tracks, creeks, riverbanks and roadways.
• Do not pick up dangerous items like needles, broken glass, hazardous waste or dead animals. Please email operations@clarington.net to let us know the location of these items, and we will arrange for safe disposal.

Annual Community Cleanup

• Join the annual community cleanup and help keep Clarington litter-free