Niagara Watershed Plan Draft Text Only
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Niagara Watershed Plan (Equivalency) – Volume 1: Characterization (DRAFT) Niagara Official Plan Niagara Region, Ontario Project # WW 20101001 Prepared for: Regional Municipality of Niagara 1815 Sir Isaac Brock Way, Thorold, ON L2V 4T7 5/21/2021 Niagara Watershed Plan (Equivalency) – Volume 1: Characterization (DRAFT) Niagara Official Plan Niagara Region, Ontario Project # WW 20101001 Prepared for: Regional Municipality of Niagara 1815 Sir Isaac Brock Way, Thorold, ON L2V 4T7 Prepared by: Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions a Division of Wood Canada Limited 3450 Harvester Road, Suite 100 Burlington, ON L7N 3W5; T: 905-335-2353 North-South Environmental Inc. 101B King Street W. Cambridge, ON N3H 1B5 Canada; T: 905-854-1112 Dougan & Associates – Ecological Consulting & Design 77 Wyndham Street South Guelph, ON, N1E 5R3; T: 519-822-1609 5/21/2021 Copyright and non-disclosure notice The contents and layout of this report are subject to copyright owned by Wood (© Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions a Division of Wood Canada Limited) save to the extent that copyright has been legally assigned by us to another party or is used by Wood under license. To the extent that we own the copyright or other proprietary right in this report, it may not be copied or used without our prior written agreement for any purpose other than the purpose indicated in this report. Any third party who obtains access to this report by any means will, in any event, be subject to the Third Party Disclaimer set out below. Third-party disclaimer Any disclosure of this report to a third party is subject to this disclaimer. 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WW20101001 Niagara Region Niagara Watershed Plan (Equivalency) – Volume 1: Characterization (DRAFT) Niagara Official Plan Table of contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION AND STUDY PURPOSE .......................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Tertiary Watershed Context ....................................................................... 3 1.3 Work Plan .................................................................................................. 4 1.4 NWP (E) Report Structure ......................................................................... 7 2.0 NIAGARA WATERSHED CHARACTERIZATION ................................................ 9 2.1 Overview of Background Information ......................................................... 9 2.2 Watershed and Subwatershed Delineations ............................................ 11 2.2.1 Provincial Ontario Watershed Boundary Dataset .......................... 13 2.3 Watershed Characterization of Existing Conditions ................................. 19 2.3.1 Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed .................................................. 19 2.3.2 Niagara River Tertiary Watershed ................................................. 90 2.3.3 Lake Erie Tertiary Watershed ..................................................... 140 3.0 CONCLUSION & NWP (E) REPORTING ......................................................... 174 List of figures Figure 1-1: Provincial Mapping – Watershed Delineation Scales .................................... 3 Figure 2-1. Niagara Region – Tertiary Watershed Areas ............................................. 15 Figure 2-2. Niagara Region – Quaternary Watershed Areas ........................................ 16 Figure 2-3. Niagara Region Subwatershed Areas ........................................................ 17 List of tables Table 2-1: Tertiary and Quaternary Watersheds within Niagara Region ....................... 18 Table 2-LO-1: Drainage Areas and Subwatersheds within the Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed ..................................................................................................................... 20 Table 2-LO-2: Soil Drainage Distribution within the Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed .. 23 Table 2-LO-3: Slope Distribution within the Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed .............. 24 Table 2-LO-4: Water Quality & Quantity Sensitive Areas within the Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed ..................................................................................................................... 27 Table 2-LO-5: Natural Hazard Distribution within the Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed 30 Table 2-LO-6: Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed Habitat Summary and Thermal Regime ...................................................................................................................................... 32 Table 2-LO-7: Niagara Region Fish Habitat Classification: Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed ..................................................................................................................... 36 Table 2-LO-8: Summary of quaternary watershed habitat, fish species, and movement barriers .......................................................................................................................... 37 Table 2-LO-9: Fish Species at Risk within the Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed ......... 39 Table 2-LO-10: Natural Ecological Land Classification Community Series Summaries for the Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed ............................................................................ 42 Table 2-LO-11: Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed Woodland Summary (within Niagara Region) .......................................................................................................................... 43 Table 2-LO-12: Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed Wetland Summary (within Niagara Region) .......................................................................................................................... 47 Table 2-LO-13: Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed Flora Summary ................................ 51 Project # WW 20101001 | 5/21/2021 Page i Niagara Region Niagara Watershed Plan (Equivalency) – Volume 1: Characterization (DRAFT) Niagara Official Plan Table 2-LO-14: Flora Species at Risk and Species of Conservation Concern by Quaternary Watershed – Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed .......................................... 52 Table 2-LO-15: Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed Fungi Summary ............................... 54 Table 2-LO-16: Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed Amphibian Summary ....................... 55 Table 2-LO-17: Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed Bird Summary .................................. 56 Table 2-LO-18: Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed Invertebrate (Insect and Crustaceans) Summary ....................................................................................................................... 56 Table 2-LO-19: Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed Mammal Summary .......................... 57 Table 2-LO-20: Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed Reptile Summary ............................. 59 Table 2-LO-21: Fauna Species at Risk and Species of Conservation Concern by Quaternary Watershed .................................................................................................. 60 Table 2-LO-22: Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed ANSI Summary ................................ 63 Table 2-LO-23: ANSIs located in the Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed ........................ 64 Table 2-LO-24: Municipalities and Urban Areas within the Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed ..................................................................................................................... 70 Table 2-LO-25: Agricultural Land Base and Constructed Drains within the Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed ........................................................................................................ 75 Table 2-LO-26: Climate Monitoring Network within the Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed ...................................................................................................................................... 78 Table 2-LO-27: Streamflow Monitoring Network within the Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed ..................................................................................................................... 80 Table 2-LO-28: Water Quality Monitoring Network and Grades within the Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed ........................................................................................................ 83 Table 2-LO-29: Groundwater Monitoring Network Summary for the Lake Ontario Tertiary Watershed ........................................................................................................ 87 Table 2-NR-1: Drainage Areas and Subwatersheds within the Niagara River Tertiary Watershed ..................................................................................................................... 91 Table 2-NR-2: Soil Drainage Distribution within the Niagara River Tertiary Watershed 93 Table 2-NR-3: Slope Distribution within the Niagara River Tertiary Watershed ............ 94 Table 2-NR-4: Water Quality & Quantity Sensitive Areas within the Niagara River Tertiary Watershed .......................................................................................................