The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

13| The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,A pril 5,2018 theifp.ca EARTH WEEK CELEBRATIONS April 21-28, 2018 Save the Dates! Community Wide Clean-up Saturday, April 21, 2018 Residents and community groups are encouraged to help clean-up our community! Free gloves and bags are available for clean-up activities at the Robert C. Austin Operations Centre, 11620 Trafalgar Road (Georgetown) and at McDonalds in Halton Hills. To join or register a clean-up group contact: Transportation and PublicWorks Tel: 905-873-2601, ext. 2603 cleanup@haltonhills.ca 22-Minute Makeover Monday, April 23, 2018 Local businesses and institutions are encouraged to go outside and clean-up for 22 minutes. Free gloves and bags are available for clean-up activities at the Robert C. Austin Operations Centre, 11620 Trafalgar Road (Georgetown) and at McDonalds in Halton Hills. To register your clean-up area contact: Transportation and PublicWorks Tel: 905-873-2601, ext. 2603 cleanup@haltonhills.ca Earth Day at Public Works Saturday, April 28, 2018 Participate in the Earth Day event at the Robert C. Austin Operations Centre located at 11620 Trafalgar Road. Purchase trees at $5.00 each, pick up free compost and woodchips (bring your own shovel), and drop off your unwanted electronics and household hazardous waste. A deliciousBBQbreakfast and lunch will be available. Food and cash donations for our local food banks are gratefully accepted. For more information contact: Transportation and PublicWorks Tel: 905-873-2601, ext. 2603 Earth Day and Sustainability Fair Join us for the Town's annual Earth Day and Sustainability Fair at the Georgetown Market Place. Environmental, cultural, economic and social groups will showcase the good work they do in the community. Highlights include Conservation Halton's Mountsberg Birds of Prey and Credit Valley Conservation children's activities. For more information contact: Planning & Sustainability Tel: 905-873-2601, ext. 2290 Need more information about Earth Week Celebrations? Visit: haltonhills.ca Earth Day and Sustainability Fair middle watersheds, which was ranked predominant- ly "good" and "fair" - a con- trast that Credit Valley Conservation's Loveleen Clayton says can be attri- buted to the difference in urban development in the areas, as the upper water- shed is less urbanized. "In urban streams you tend to have a lot more hardened surfaces, so grooves and roads and parking lots and all that is an attractant for all the pollutants that come off of it as well," Clayton said. "It makes the water run much quicker and faster; it doesn't allow it to natural- ly recharge through the ground. There's less trees or natural foliage so the streams are a little bit warmer." As well, two wells in the Credit River Watershed, one located in Acton, show amounts of chloride that exceed the Ontario Drink- ing Water Standards. However, the remain- der of Halton Hills falls within the middle water- shed and two subwater- sheds that pass through Halton Hills have seen a slight improvement in terms of forest conditions, while one subwatershed has seen a significant im- provement. And despite the seem- ingly bad news for the low- er watershed, the area is showing progress when compared to its score in 2013, with certain areas transitioning from "very poor" to "poor" in both the surface water quality and forest condition catego- ries. Surface water quality is graded based on phospho- rus, E. coli bacteria and benthic macroinverte- brates, and forest condi- tions are graded on the percentages of forest cov- er, forest interior and the 30-metre forested zone next to watercourses. How residents can make a difference Helping to improve the conditions of the water- shed starts with each resi- dent at home. Small chang- es such as opting for a green alternative to lawn care or participating in lo- cal tree-planting initia- tives can go a long way. According to the CVC report, more than 625 local residents each year have made the switch to more sustainable landscaping options. In addition to this, local businesses and agencies have been implementing low-impact development practices such the addi- tion of a rain garden at Terra Cotta Conservation Area or the building of a permeable pavement at Edith Street parking lot in Georgetown. NEWS l Continued from page 1 About one-third of the Credit River was graded poor or very poor l GET CONNECTED Send story tips to newsroom@theifp.ca The cause of the blaze that tore through the second floor of a home on Charles Street in Georgetown last week has been deemed undetermined at this point by the Halton Hills Fire Department. A woman living on the first floor was at home at the time the fire began at approxi- mately 7:30 a.m. and made it safely out of the structure, although a dog was found dead and a cat is missing. Fire Chief John deHooge put the dam- age estimate at about $300,000 to the home and another $50,000 in contents. A young couple renting the second floor was not at home Sunday morning. They lost most of their belongings in the fire and are staying with family in Pickering this week. POLICE AND FIRE Damage pegged at $350,000 in Charles Street house fire PLEASE RECYCLE THIS PAPER