Beaver River Watershed Report Prepared by Meghan Allerton for the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority August 2015 Preface This study was undertaken by Meghan Allerton for the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority (GSCA) in fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Environmental Science degree program at the University of Toronto Scarborough. Funding for the project was generously provided by the Beaver River Watershed Initiative, whose mandate is “to co-ordinate actions by environmentally concerned community members aimed at improving and conserving the overall water quality of the Beaver River Watershed”. Thanks to John Bittorf, Water Resources Coordinator at the GSCA, for his guidance and supervision, Gloria Dangerfield for GIS assistance, Anna Beckett, Tim Lanthier, and everyone at Grey Sauble Conservation for their constant support. 1 Table of Contents Glossary of Terms .................................................................................................................... 5 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. 6 1.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Background.............................................................................................................. 9 2.0 Methods........................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Scale and Frequency .............................................................................................. 12 2.2 Resource Categories, Indicators and Grading ....................................................... 14 2.3 Total phosphorus and E. coli bacteria ................................................................... 15 2.4 Benthic invertebrates ............................................................................................. 17 2.5 Water Temperature ................................................................................................ 20 2.6 Forest conditions ................................................................................................... 21 3.0 Results and Discussion ................................................................................................... 22 3.1 Beaver River Watershed ........................................................................................ 22 3.2 Main Beaver River Subwatershed ......................................................................... 26 3.3 Grier Creek Subwatershed ..................................................................................... 31 3.4 Mill Creek Subwatershed ...................................................................................... 34 3.5 Wodehouse Creek Subwatershed .......................................................................... 38 3.6 Lake Eugenia Subwatershed .................................................................................. 41 3.7 Boyne River Subwatershed ................................................................................... 48 4.0 Conclusions and Next Steps ........................................................................................... 51 References .............................................................................................................................. 54 Appendices ............................................................................................................................. 56 Appendix 1: Surface water quality monitoring sites .................................................... 56 Appendix 2: Phosphorus and E. coli sampling information ......................................... 57 2 List of Figures Figure 1: Municipalities in the Beaver River watershed ......................................................... 8 Figure 2: Subwatersheds and water quality monitoring sites ................................................ 13 Figure 3: Beaver River Watershed ......................................................................................... 23 Figure 4: Water temperature measured at Beaver River mouth ............................................ 25 Figure 5: Main Beaver River Subwatershed .......................................................................... 27 Figure 6: Water temperature measured at Slabtown and Beaver River mouth ...................... 29 Figure 7: Grier Creek Subwatershed ...................................................................................... 31 Figure 8: Water temperature measured at Grier Creek .......................................................... 33 Figure 9: Mill Creek Subwatershed ....................................................................................... 35 Figure 10: Water temperatures measured in Mill Creek ........................................................ 36 Figure 11: Wodehouse Creek Subwatershed ......................................................................... 39 Figure 12: Water temperature measured at Wodehouse Creek ............................................. 40 Figure 13: Lake Eugenia Subwatershed ................................................................................ 43 Figure 14: Water temperatures measured in the Upper Beaver River ................................... 45 Figure 15: Water temperature measured at Little Beaver River ............................................ 46 Figure 16: Water temperatures measured at Lake Eugenia Outlet ........................................ 47 Figure 17: Boyne River Subwatershed .................................................................................. 48 Figure 18: Water temperatures measured in the Boyne River and tributaries ....................... 50 Note Regarding all Maps: Watercourses and wet areas are updated on a continuous basis by Grey Sauble Conservation Authority (GSC) using the most recent air photos products and ground-truthing. The included mapping has been compiled from various sources and is for information purposes only. Grey Sauble Conservation Authority (GSC) is not responsible for, and cannot guarantee, the accuracy of all the information contained within the maps in this report. By accepting this data, you agree not to edit or alter it in any way and to include this disclaimer in all end products. You also agree to inform GSC of any errors in the mapping. Produced by GSC with data supplied under License by Members of the Ontario Geospatial Data Exchange. Contains Material of the © Queen’s Printer for Ontario and its licensors. [2015] May Not be Reproduced without Permission. THIS IS NOT A PLAN OF SURVEY. 3 List of Tables Table 1: Total phosphorus and E. coli bacteria grading system ............................................ 16 Table 2: Benthic sampling information ................................................................................. 17 Table 3: BioMAP(q) index values and associated grades ..................................................... 19 Table 4: Forest conditions grading system ............................................................................ 21 Table 5: Results and grades for the Beaver River watershed ................................................ 24 Table 6: Results and grades for the Main Beaver River subwatershed ................................. 28 Table 7: Results and grades for the Grier Creek subwatershed ............................................. 32 Table 8: Results and grades for the Mill Creek subwatershed ............................................... 35 Table 9: Results and grades for the Wodehouse Creek subwatershed ................................... 39 Table 10: Results and grades for the Lake Eugenia subwatersheds ...................................... 44 Table 11: Results and grades for the North and South Tributary subwatersheds .................. 45 Table 12: Results and grades for the Boyne River subwatershed .......................................... 49 4 Glossary of Terms Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSIs) - areas recognized by the government of Ontario as having unique geological or natural features. Aquifer - a geologic formation of porous rock or loose material that can hold and transmit significant quantities of water. Bankfull width - the width of a watercourse when at its maximum flow before it tops its banks. Base flow - the portion of flow in a watercourse that comes from groundwater. Benthic invertebrates - invertebrates such as insects, crustaceans, and molluscs that live at the bottom of lakes, rivers, streams, and creeks. Family Biotic Index (FBI) - an index used to assess water quality in streams based on the sensitivity of benthic (arthropod) families to nutrient and organic pollution. Forest interior - the core area of a forest, usually measured as the area that is greater than 100 meters from the forest edge. Geometric mean - the nth root of the product of all data points, where n is the number of data points. The geometric mean is less affected by extreme values than the mean. Karst - refers to landscape features formed by the dissolution of soluble rocks. Provincial Water Quality Objectives (PWQO) - water quality objectives set by the province of Ontario at levels which protect human health and aquatic life. Re-entrant valley - a valley that forms perpendicular to a ridgeline and slopes downward noticeably away from the ridge. Riparian zone - the land directly adjacent to a watercourse or waterbody.