JOCK RIVER Lorem ipsum Subwatershed Report 2016 A report on the environmental health of the Jock River 1 Length of River Welcome to the 66 kilometres Length of Tributaries Jock River Subwatershed 888 kilometres Catchment Areas • Flowing Creek The Rideau — 50 km2 Watershed • Hobbs Drain — 32 km2 • Jenkinson Drain — 23 km2 • Jock River – Ashton-Dwyer Hill — 81 km2 • Jock River – Barrhaven — 31 km2 • Jock River – Franktown — 79 km2 watershed is an area of land that drains to a river, • Jock River – Leamy Creek lake or stream. In the Rideau Watershed, there are six — 20 km2 A major subwatersheds: Jock River, Kemptville Creek, • Jock River – Richmond Lower Rideau, Middle Rideau, Rideau Lakes and Tay River. — 31 km2 • Jock River – Richmond Fen This report looks at the Jock River Subwatershed. The Jock River — 26 km2 flows from headwater wetlands in Beckwith and Montague • Kings Creek Townships near Franktown, through the rich agricultural lands — 91 km2 in the former municipalities of Goulbourn and Nepean, • Monahan Drain and finally, through Barrhaven in Ottawa’s South Urban — 45 km2 Community to the Rideau River just north of Manotick where • Nichols Creek it connects to the Lower Rideau Subwatershed. — 47 km2 In 2011, the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) Total drainage area released the Jock River Subwatershed Report 2010. The report 556 km2 summarized the health of the Jock River Subwatershed looking at four key indicators: forest cover, wetlands, shoreline vegetation RVCA and Rideau and surface water quality. That report showed mixed results. In Valley Conservation the lower reaches of the Jock River, the more urbanized and Foundation Lands intensively farmed areas were showing the effects of changes to • Brown — 0.8 ha the natural landscape, whereas in the middle to upper reaches, What We Monitor and Why? • Fine — 40.4 ha forests, wetlands and watercourses were generally numerous The RVCA’s goal is for clean water, healthy shorelines and sustainable • Richmond Weir — 0.2 ha and well connected. Similarly, shorelines are typically natural land use. Monitoring environmental conditions helps us see trends over • Richmond — 2.6 ha in many of the same areas and water quality conditions were time, focus our actions where they can do the most good and evaluate • Hearts Desire — 0.1 ha generally fair across the subwatershed. The report called for the effectiveness of our watershed policies and programs. • Hornung — 121.5 ha continued protection and enhancement of these key natural • Lanark County — 5.7 ha features through good land stewardship practices with hopes of This report, together with the more detailed catchment reports • Ruiter — 19.5 ha maintaining, if not improving on, the last reported conditions. prepared for each of the 12 catchments of the Jock River (available at www.rvca.ca), show conditions using the most up-to-date data Total conservation available for key indicators of subwatershed health. This document land area 190.8 ha also highlights any changes and trends in indicator conditions. 2 3 Forest Cover The Benefits of Forest Cover Forest Cover in the Most of the reported change in forest cover Forest Cover by Catchment Forests are important parts of a healthy Jock River Subwatershed (increase/decrease) across the subwatershed watershed because of their role in the Forest cover in the Jock River was classified using can be attributed to anthropogenic activities Forest Forest hydrologic cycle. Runoff after rain and the 2008 and 2014 DRAPE ortho-imagery (colour (conversion of woodland to crop and Catchment Cover in Change snowmelt, from an area of forested land, is aerial photography). Results for 2008 and 2014 pastureland, settlement and aggregate 2014 Since 2008 significantly less in both its volume and peak show that forest cover remains largely unchanged extraction) and natural processes (reversion Ashton-Dwyer Hill 25.0% -0.42% flow rate than run off from a similar area that in the subwatershed at 26 percent with a decline of crop and pastureland to woodland). Results has been cleared or urbanized. Trees make of less than one percent over this period. and changes to woodland cover are shown in Barrhaven 11.1% -0.88% subwatersheds more resilient to climate the accompanying chart and map. Flowing Creek 25.6% -1.91% change’s heavy rainfall, irregular storms and Across the Jock River, forest cover (in 2014) Franktown 28.8% -0.15% unseasonal precipitation. Forests provide ranges from a high of 41.8 percent in the Urban areas of the subwatershed have seen Hobbs Drain 30.0% -0.71% habitat for many plants and animals. They Nichols Creek Catchment to a low of 7.1 percent greater percentage losses of forest cover as also clean the air and reduce erosion along in the Monahan Drain Catchment. All catchments compared to rural areas, although the physical Jenkinson Drain 26.8% -0.97% riparian areas. have seen a decrease in forest cover (between area of that loss is less. Between 2008 and Kings Creek 41.4% -0.18% 9 and 96 hectares) with the exception being 2014, there was a 13.7 percent (47 ha) decline Leamy Creek 8.0% -0.92% Experts believe a minimum forest cover of the Richmond Fen Catchment where a slight in forest cover in urban areas of the Jock versus Monahan Drain 7.1% -0.81% 30 percent is needed to sustain the natural increase (of two hectares) was recorded. a 2.1 percent (289 ha) loss in rural areas. biodiversity and environmental services Nichols Creek 41.8% -0.18% forests provide. Across the subwatershed, average forest Richmond 17.5% -1.32% cover is below the recommended 30 percent Richmond Fen 17.7% +0.07% minimum,1 suggesting that we are in a high- Subwatershed Average 26.5% -0.60% risk state where the forests may only support less than one half of the potential species and contribute moderately to the health of the tree planting efforts in those areas with low aquatic system. Increasing forest cover will forest and natural shoreline cover. improve biological diversity and help to restore hydrologic functions. For more detailed information on forest cover, please see each of the 12 catchment reports Going forward, efforts should be made to (available at www.rvca.ca). protect what forest cover remains and focus 1 Environment Canada. 2013. How Much Habitat is Enough? Third Edition. Environment Canada. Toronto, Ontario. 4 5 Wetlands The Benefits of Wetlands regulation as well as flood control. These many areas of the Jock landscape. Many Wetland Cover by Catchment Wetlands are nature’s flood control and water services have been valued at $247 per person of these wetlands are large, well connected supply reservoirs — places for the temporary per year in a 2009 Ontario study. In other to forests and watercourses and are an Wetland Wetland storage of runoff from rain and snowmelt. words, wetlands do for free what we would important and distinctive feature of the mid Catchment Cover in Change Thanks to wetlands, peak flows during floods otherwise have to pay millions of dollars to to upper reaches. 2014 Since 2008 are lower, low flows are sustained during do through technology and infrastructure. In dry weather and groundwater supplies are the long term, sustained water supplies and Today, wetlands cover 132.4 square kilometres Ashton-Dwyer Hill 21.2% -0.75% replenished. Wetlands provide habitat for many effective flood damage reduction will depend, (23.8 percent) of the Jock River Subwatershed Barrhaven 0.5% +0.07% common and rare plants and animals as well as in part, on maintaining the remaining wetland and filter over 950 kilometres of catchment Flowing Creek 9.6% +0.03% fishing, hunting and recreational opportunities. features throughout the watershed. creeks, streams and drains. This cover ranges from a high of 49.4 percent in the Richmond Franktown 48.1% +0.03% RVCA hydrologists estimate that the existing Wetlands in the Fen Catchment to a low of less than one Hobbs Drain 23.7% -0.07% wetlands across the Rideau Watershed are Jock River Subwatershed percent in the Barrhaven, Leamy Creek and Jenkinson Drain 14.2% -0.17% responsible for a peak flow (and its resulting The Jock River Subwatershed contains the Monahan Drain Catchments. Since 2008, five flood damage) that is about 10 percent lower third largest total area of wetland in the catchments have seen a slight increase in Kings Creek 25.8% +0.13% than what we would see without wetlands! Rideau Valley (constituting 16 percent of all wetland cover with another four experiencing Leamy Creek 0.1% 0.00% This flood control function is significant, natural Rideau Valley wetlands). In combination, the a slight decrease (all within less than one Monahan Drain 0.3% 0.00% and free. Wetlands are also recognized for the geological setting, climate and generally flat percent); three remained unchanged over the Nichols Creek 43.0% +0.21% ecological goods and services they provide topography of this area results in high water six-year period. Richmond 15.2% -0.39% such as water supply, waste treatment, climate tables making wetlands a dominant feature in Loss of wetlands since pre-settlement times Richmond Fen 49.4% 0.00% varies widely across the subwatershed: from a Subwatershed Average 23.8% -0.09% 26 percent decline in the upper reaches; to a 51 percent decline in the middle reaches and over a 93 percent decline in the lower reaches and ecological functions, along with related (rivaling the rate of wetland loss in parts of recreational and economic benefits that southern Ontario). Much of this historic loss of wetlands provide, as recommended in wetland, while reducing biological diversity and the 2005 Lower Rideau Watershed Strategy. water retention/storage, has produced gains Consideration should also be given to restoring in farming productivity and provided areas of wetlands in the lower reaches of the Jock River urban settlement.