Niagara College Canada

The wetlands system at the Daniel J. Patterson campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake was originally built by the Niagara Region, treating waste water for a nearby office complex and horse track because there was no close municipal sewer system.

The two cells (lagoons) were designed and functioned to treat waste water. The primary cell – the south cell located closest to the escarpment – is where settling and wave action would oxygenate the water, and from there it would trickle into the secondary lagoon. The secondary lagoon – the northern lagoon – was covered in cattails and phragmites and other aquatic plant species, and would treat the nutrients in the water. The resulting water was discharged into the 6 Mile Creek watershed.

When the college was built in the late 90’s the municipal sewer line was extended to treat the wastewater, and as a result, the office complex was connected to the municipal sewage system and the lagoons were no longer needed.

After a series of negotiations, in 1997 the college took over ownership of the 15 acres of land in that was mostly occupied by the lagoons as they were no longer needed by the region for their original intent.

A transcript of the above article can be found here.

Since taking ownership of the land, it has become a living lab for our environmental programs, and over the years it has evolved into a diverse wetland ecosystem through a variety of restoration methods and projects completed by students.