March 22 was World Water Day and Credit Valley Conservation (CVC), with support from Conservation Ontario, launched its 2018 Watershed Report Card, tracking environmental health of the Credit River Watershed.
The launch was coordinated between all conservation authorities in Ontario. Each conservation authority released a report card, highlighting the current state of key environmental indicators in their own local watersheds.
According to the CVC report card, urban and rural land development and climate change are the biggest stressors impacting the health of the Credit River Watershed, which is made up of all of the land where rain and snow melt drain into the Credit River.
“Our watershed monitoring program is like a check-up with your doctor,” says CVC’s Loveleen Clayton, program manager of watershed monitoring.
“We want to make sure that everything is working properly. We monitor things like water quality, forest health, underwater insects and fish throughout the watershed. Being proactive gives us a chance to detect environmental challenges early and prevent them from getting worse.”
Just like school report cards, letters A through F are used to demonstrate where the Credit River Watershed is thriving and where it needs improvement.
In A graded areas, CVC and its many partners lead environmental study and action to protect and enhance the natural environment to maintain high grades.
Low grades of D or F show where ecosystem health can benefit from continued restoration, environmental enhancement, land stewardship and management.
More than 750,000 people live in the Credit River Watershed, with most people living and working in the urban lower watershed.
This includes much of Brampton and all of Mississauga. Nearly a third of the watershed received a grade of D or F. Poor grades were recorded in heavily urbanized areas of the lower watershed.
Water quality in creeks in these areas rated Poor to Very Poor. CVC and its partners are currently leading low impact development projects, tree planting programs and streamside planting projects to improve water quality in these creeks.
In Erin, the groundwater quality measured from fair to excellent. The area received a B rating for surface water quality and a C rating for forest conditions.
Conservation Ontario developed the Conservation Authority Watershed Report Card in 1999. These report cards are a management and evaluation tool that allow conservation authorities and their partners to better target programs and measure environmental change in many of Ontario’s watersheds.
The data CVC collects is used to support large-scale comprehensive watershed management strategies such as the Credit River water management strategy, Credit River fisheries management plan, greenlands securement strategy, source water protection strategy and subwatershed studies.
To learn more about the environmental health of the Credit River Watershed and what you can do to help improve grades, view CVC’s 2018 report card at https://cvc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/17-12-07_WatershedReport-Card_CVC_FINAL-WEB2.pdf.
