What is it?

Maybe you have heard or seen the Clean-Drain-Dry or CDD slogan

Upon exiting a lake, it is imperative that you:

  • Clean debris from your boat, inside and out … don’t forget your trailer,
  • Drain all water holding tanks and ballast, and
  • Dry your watercraft.

This reduces the likelihood that you will spread invasive species from the lake you just left to the next lake you enter!

The Law

In Ontario, this is part of the action plan on preventing invasive species (https://www.ontario.ca/page/invasive-species-action-plans) and in January of 2022, Ontario regulated watercraft (boats, canoes, kayaks) as carriers of invasive species under the Invasive Species Act, and it became the  law to Clean-Drain-Dry.

Per Section 14 of the Invasive Species Act, 2015 ONTARIO REGULATION 354/16

” Carriers

Prescribed carriers of invasive species, conveyances etc.

(2) A person shall not transport watercraft or watercraft equipment overland unless,

(a)  any drain plugs or other devices used to control drainage have been removed or opened to allow water to drain out of the watercraft or watercraft equipment; and

(b)  reasonable measures have been taken to remove any aquatic plants, animals or algae from the watercraft, watercraft equipment and any vehicle or trailer used to transport the watercraft or watercraft equipment overland. O. Reg. 702/21, s. 9.”

https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/160354

Guidance

Keep these quick references from the MNRF (Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry) handy:

In North Kawartha, some lakes have invasive species that can be easily moved from the contaminated lake to an uncontaminated lake, swiftly spreading the invasives and resulting in all lakes having invasive species in a short period of time.

Download this document for more info on Best Management Practices for Preventing the Spread of Aquatic Invasive Species.

Thanks to the Canadian Council on Invasive Species and the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters – Invading Species Awareness Program for making these signs available to us to help spread the Clean-Drain-Dry message.

Reference Material

Cleaning Methods

There are a number of methods for executing “Clean-Drain-Dry (CDD)”, such as: