It might feel like the Grand River is an ever-constant, natural connection to our rural past as this region grows and urbanizes. But look a little more closely, and you'll see a river that's constantly evolving. We have left our imprint on the river, just as much as it's left it's imprint on our region. In the 19th century, European settlement reduced the river's natural water flows by converting thousands of hectares of forest and wetlands into farmland.