Facts and Figures What We Are Doing What You Can Do Where We Are • TRCA, working with local residents, has developed a series of Neighbourhood Greening • Divert your downspouts away from paved areas and install a rain barrel to capture We are one of Municipalities Toronto, York, Markham Plans for the Morningside Park, Milliken Park and Cedarbrook Park communities. These and reuse the rainwater that falls on your roof. This reduces run-off to sewers, 36 Conservation Tributaries West Highland, East Highland, Main Highland, plans identify opportunities to better manage stormwater, expand and reconnect prevents flooding and saves money on your water bill. Authorities across Centennial Creek isolated patches of natural habitat, and restore the urban forest. Highland Creek Watershed Ontario under Length of Major Tributaries (km) West Highland – 19, East Highland – 12, • Reduce or eliminate the use of salt, pesticides and fertilizers, which contaminate the umbrella Main Highland – 8, Centennial Creek – 6 organization of • TRCA, the City of Toronto, Ontario Hydro One and the Rural Lambton Stewardship rivers, ponds and groundwater supplies. Conservation Mean Stream Flow (mouth) 1.1 m3/sec Report Card 2013 Network are building the Scarborough Butterfly Trail, a 16 ha meadow restoration Ontario. Area (km2) 102 project in the Gatineau Hydro Corridor, which will improve habitat conditions in the • Volunteer for community tree plantings, litter pick-ups or other stewardship Population (2011) 415,265 watershed. events. Register for a volunteer opportunity at: www.trcastewardshipevents.ca Land Use Urban – 100% Physiographic Regions Iroquois Plain, Peel Plain and South Slope What Does this Report Card Measure? • The City of Toronto, under its Highland Creek Geomorphic Systems Master • Join the Highland Creek Green Team—a group of motivated residents working to Natural Cover 11% of the watershed has Natural Cover: Forest – 6%, Implementation Plan, is undertaking a number of major stream restoration projects Meadow – 5%, Successional – 0%, and Wetland – 0% implement greening projects identified in the Neighbourhood Greening Plans. More to minimize erosion and stop potential damage to the sanitary and storm sewers information is available on the Highland Creek webpage listed below. Native Plant & Animal Species Plants – 198, Fish – 17, Birds – 63, Amphibians – 5, found beneath the creek. A meandering creek planted with trees, shrubs and aquatic Mammals – 13, Reptiles – 1. Of these, 52 are considered Species of Regional Conservation Concern. vegetation along its banks is better able to withstand the heavy flows following Surface Water Quality Forest Conditions Groundwater Quality Stormwater Management storms or melting snow. Donate to The Living City Foundation to support programs and Why Measure? initiatives in the Highland Creek watershed at • TRCA is working with community partners, the City of Toronto and residents, in Measuring helps us better understand our watersheds. It helps us to focus our eff orts where they are needed implementing low impact development projects — such as rain gardens, rain barrels www.thelivingcity.org most and to track the progress made. It also helps us to identify ecologically important areas that require and permeable parking lots that allow rainwater to seep into the soil — to reduce protection or enhancement. rainwater run-off and protect water quality in our streams. What is a Watershed? Bradford - West Gwillimbury Uxbridge Scugog A watershed is the area of land that catches rain and snow, Newmarket Whitchurch- SIMCOE Stouffville • TRCA and the City of Toronto are developing a Greening Strategy for the Highland New Tecumseth which drains or seeps into a marsh, creek, river, lake or Adjala - Tosorontio visit www.trca.on.ca/highland Creek to provide a strategic restoration action plan to enhance the Highland Creek groundwater. Watersheds are the collectors, filters, conveyers Aurora and subscribe to Highland Highlights Newsletter Whitby and storage compartments of our fresh water supply. King DURHAM valley system and overall watershed function. Pickering Richmond Hill • Urban forest studies have been completed for the cities of Markham and Toronto; Markham Ajax these studies have been completed through the collaborative efforts of TRCA, YORK PEEL Join us on Facebook Vaughan Caledon regional and local municipalities and neighbouring Conservation Authorities. The www.facebook.com/HighlandCreekGreenCommunity City of Toronto has also developed a Strategic Urban Forest Management Plan. Highland Creek Follow us on Twitter Watershed Collectively these documents will provide strategic direction for sustaining and Grading www.twitter.com/TRCA_Events 5 Shoreham Drive, Downsview, Ontario M3N 1S4 TORONTO expanding the urban forest. T: (416) 661-6600 F: (416) 667-6274 Excellent E: [email protected] A Brampton Good HALTON B Lake Ontario The standards used in this Report Card were developed by Conservation Halton Hills Fair Mississauga C Authorities to ensure consistent reporting across the Province of Ontario. ± Poor They are intended to provide watershed residents with the information Toronto and Region Conservation (TRCA) D needed to protect, enhance and improve the precious natural resources has prepared this Watershed Report Card Very Poor that surround us. on the state of forests, surface water, F groundwater and stormwater conditions. Information contained in this Report Card is for communication purposes only. For more details, visit: www.trca.on.ca/reportcards About the Indicators Highland Creek Watershed Report Card 2013 This Report Card provides a snapshot of some environmental conditions in the Highland Creek watershed. Surface Water Quality Forest Conditions Groundwater Quality Stormwater Monitoring, measuring and reporting helps us better understand the watershed, the progress we’ve made in protecting it and the threats to its future health. Tracking the environmental indicators used in Indicators Indicators Indicators Management this Report Card provides watershed residents and the general public with the information needed to Total Phosphorous % Forest Cover Nitrate and Nitrite NO GRADE protect, restore and improve the precious natural resources within our watersheds. Where possible, an D D Indicator F arrow is included alongside grades to show whether conditions are improving, getting worse, or stable. E. coli Bacteria % Forest Interior Chloride % of Developed Area with Stormwater Controls- Benthic Macroinvertebrates (BMI) % Riparian Zone Forested Groundwater quality not graded in the Highlands due to What Does this Report Card Measure? insuffi cient data. Quality and Quantity (i.e., stormwater management pond) Surface Water Quality Bradford - West Gwillimbury YORK YORK Uxbridge Total Phosphorous – High levels can trigger blooms of algae that choke waterways with plant life DURHAM DURHAM Scugog YORK DURHAM Markham Markham Newmarket Whitchurch- 7 Markham 407 SIMCOE Y 40 HWY 407 HWY Stouffville HW New Tecumseth and deplete oxygen levels in watercourses. Adjala - Tosorontio Pickering Pickering Pickering E. coli Bacteria – Indicate the presence of untreated human or animal waste. Aurora Whitby King DURHAM *# Benthic Macroinvertebrates (BMI) – Bottom-dwelling stream insect larvae, snails, crayfish and Pickering *# *# DUFFINS *# CARRUTHERS clams are sensitive to many pollutants. The presence or absence of certain invertebrate species *# Ric hm ond ROUGE reflects the water quality conditions. (! *# Hill *# D D Ajax D R R *# R M # A *# * Markham AM HAM HAM H EAST HIGHLAND EAST HIGHLAND Vau gh an *# EAST HIGHLAND H K HUMBER K R YORK PETTICOAT R A MARK MA ± ± M FRENCHMANS (! CENTENNIAL CENTENNIAL CENTENNIAL Forest Conditions Water Quality (! *# BAY (! Monitoring Sites CREEK CREEK PEEL CREEK 4 ± (! 4 04 Caledon 0 40 4 4 Urban with Y (! (! Y 401 401 401 % Forest Cover – Woodlands absorb run-off, filter out pollutants and increase biodiversity. They BMI Sites WY Y HW WY W Y H H HW H (! HW Stormwater Control HIGHLAND (! (! DON Insufficient Data Urban with No also help reduce the impacts of climate change. MAIN HIGHLAND MAIN HIGHLAND *# MAIN HIGHLAND (! *# Stormwater Control (! *# TORONTO % Forest Interior – Large blocks of forest cover provide homes for many sensitive species of birds *# MIMICO WEST HIGHLAND WEST HIGHLAND WEST HIGHLAND and other animals. (! ± TORONTO TORONTO TORONTO % Riparian Zone Forested – Vegetation along watercourses keeps the water cool, prevents (! Legend Bram pton *# Provincial Groundwater Lake Ontario Lake Ontario ETOBICOKE Lake Ontario Monitoring Network Well Y K KY HALTON Lake Ontario erosion and provides homes for many species. PKY P P Y Y EY EY E L Halton Hills Deep Aquifer L *# L AL A ALLE V V V N N N N N O O Mississauga DO Shallow Aquifer D D *# Groundwater Quality Grading Oak Ridges Moraine (data: 2006 –10) (data: 2008) Nitrate and Nitrite – These contaminants come from agricultural manure, fertilizers and leaky septic systems, and may indicate a possible health threat. Excellent The Highland Creek watershed receives an overall surface water quality grade of “Poor” or “D”. Forest conditions in the Highland Creek watershed are generally considered to be “Poor,” Overall, groundwater quality in TRCA’s watersheds is “Good” with the best water quality As of 2013, only 9% of the watershed has stormwater management controls, Chloride – High chloride levels indicate road salt may be reaching groundwater. A Due to insuffi cient data, only the Main Highland is graded for water quality