NEW HARBOUR — When visitors think of Guysborough County’s most prominent rivers, the St. Mary’s in the Municipality of the District of St. Mary’s invariably comes to mind. And, why not? This – the longest fresh waterway in Nova Scotia – is storied for its famous anglers, like baseball great Babe Ruth, who once cast a line in its fast runs and deep pools.
But, not far away, in the Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG), the New Harbour River also courses with its fabled past. And, over the past year or so, people like Shawn Barss have been doing everything they can to raise its profile and rehabilitate its waters, which have – like those of the St. Mary’s and other rivers in the province – suffered from the effects of industrial pollution and neglect.
“I feel positive about what’s going on here now,” smiles the president of the New Harbour River Restoration Association – formed in 2022 with eight other board members and a now-growing roster of active members – located in New Harbour West.
Since 2023, Barss says, the association has received funding from various sources at the MODG, including its recreation department, to “get things rolling,” including building and installing picnic tables on some of the river’s islands.
It’s also received approximately $5,000 from the Nova Scotia Salmon Association towards the purchase of water testing equipment and a commitment from MODG Warden Vernon Pitts and Guysborough-Tracadie MLA Greg Morrow to consider covering the remaining $1,200.
Meanwhile, Barss says, “We asked [them to help fund] a barrier-free boat launch that anyone can use.”
Indeed, Pitts told The Journal recently, “This [association’s work] is not only good for the community; it’s [also] good for MODG and the province as a whole.”
The association’s website illustrates just how renowned the New Harbour River once was as a place of pristine beauty and plentiful riparian wildlife.
“During the 1930s, trout were so plentiful that it was common to go ‘down to the channel’ with nothing but a pole, a line and a hook (no bait), and bring home enough trout for the whole family for supper,” it notes. “In the 1970s, salmon fishing was very popular; fishermen waded up and down the channel, and cars lined up to watch them at their sport. In the 1980s-90s, bass fishing provided another form of sport. Even today, smelt fishers can be seen practicing their craft.”
Barss – who is retired – grew up on the river.
“I played on the shores of this river. My Mom – who always wanted to protect me, of course – told me to get away from the shores of this river... I’ve spent spent many hours on this river, looking at it, enjoying it. It’s a beautiful, peaceful place to be... We just want to protect it and do what we can to help it out.”
That impulse kicked into high gear by early 2020, when it became clear to residents that decades of silt and sediment-filled runoff had compromised the river’s banks and water quality. For Barss, and others, it was time to act.
“It started out as many organizations do, with a few people talking in their garages,” he says. “You know, ‘Where have the fish gone? What’s that smell? We need to do something. We have to look after our river.’ We called the public [to] our [community] hall. Who was willing to step forward? Who was willing to take this on? That’s how the association began.”
It was rough going, at first.
“When we first got started, we basically had no funds other than what we had on our own,” he says. “We reached into our own pockets and pulled out some cash. It was extremely limited.”
The onset of COVID didn’t help.
“That set us back a couple of years. We did what we could, but we couldn’t have [any more] public meetings.”
Still, they persevered. Today, the community group has undertaken water testing and monitoring, and river usage analysis. It has plans in place for bank stabilization and the periodic removal of barriers – downed trees, and dams and rock formations caused by erosion. And, of course, it continues to engage the public whenever and wherever it can.
The work has just begun and Barss says there’s much to do.
“We’ve been looking at the water pH levels on the recommendation of field biologist from the Nova Scotia Salmon Association. Testing in 2023 has come back with a 4.43 average, and that’s a low sustainable pH. I’m certainly not a biologist. I’m just a regular guy who has been given this information, but a sustainable pH level for salmon, for example, would be a 6.8.”
Still, he adds, it’s encouraging that “there are people out there who believe in what we’re doing.”
There certainly seems little doubt about that – or the river’s profile – now.
“The New Harbour River Restoration Association’s ongoing restoration and maintenance of the river and its connecting chain of streams and lakes is a prime example of good people taking the lead on a great project,” Pitts said. “Everyone benefits.”