Assessment Report Hamilton Region Source Protection Area • Initially approved by the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change on August 5, 2015 • In effect since December 31, 2015 • Amendment approved January 30, 2019 October7 Assessment Report for the Hamilton Region Source Protection Area Version 3.1 October 12, 2017 Version Revisions: Version 3.3 – dated July 24, 2015, approved August 5, 2015, in effect December 31, 2015 Version 3.4 – internal review Version 3.5 – dated October 12, 2017, approved January 30, 2019, in effect February 5, 2019 - updated under Section 51 of O.Reg. 287/07 to make minor edits to fix typographical errors, remove reference to the 76 Tables of Drinking Water Circumstances Prepared by: Halton-Hamilton Source Protection staff Photo Credits: In Text - Source Protection staff or as noted Cover - stream - Hamilton Conservation Authority shoreline - Halton Region Additional copies may be obtained by contacting: Halton-Hamilton Source Protection Region 2596 Britannia Road West Burlington, ON L7P 0G3 Phone - 905-336-1158 ext. 2237 E-mail - [email protected] Please contact us if you require this document in another format. For more information about the Clean Water Act, 2006 and how you can play a role in protecting drinking water sources in the Halton-Hamilton Source Protection Region, please visit our website: www.protectingwater.ca HAMILTON REGION SOURCE PROTECTION AREA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ASSESSMENT REPORT Executive Summary Background The Town of Walkerton’s contaminated drinking water tragedy in 2000 prompted the introduction by the Government of Ontario of new legislation to safeguard Ontario’s drinking water supplies. The Clean Water Act, 2006, is one piece of this legislation. Essentially, the Act requires communities to develop science-based protection plans for their existing and future drinking water sources. This Assessment Report is the foundation of the Source Protection Plan for the Hamilton Region Source Protection Area. The Area comprises lands within the municipalities of the City of Hamilton, the Township of Puslinch/County of Wellington, and the Town of Grimsby/Niagara Region. It is partially served by two municipal drinking water systems located within the Source Protection Area and operated by the City of Hamilton, partially by a municipal system in the neighbouring Niagara Peninsula Source Protection Area, and partially by private services. The Woodward system and neighbouring Grimsby system take water from Lake Ontario and distribute it to approximately 96.7 percent of the population within the Hamilton Region Source Protection Area. The Greensville well system, situated within Middle Spencer Creek, a subwatershed of the Spencer Creek watershed, serves 0.03 percent. The remaining nearly 3 percent of the population rely on private systems, including wells and cisterns. Significant Findings Building upon an analysis of the characteristics of Hamilton Area watersheds, water budgets were completed to assess the availability and use of water supplies within the Area. Water quantity stress assessments were then completed to identify areas requiring further study. Finally, threats to water quality from ongoing, potential, or past activities were identified, and the associated risks were assessed. Existing stresses on surface water quantity: This Assessment Report identifies 5 subwatersheds that are significantly stressed and 9 that are moderately stressed based on monthly demand on the available surface water supply. The municipal surface water intakes in the Source Protection Area are located in Lake Ontario and not within these stressed subwatersheds. Therefore, under the Clean Water Act, 2006, these 14 stressed subwatersheds do not warrant further study. Existing stresses on groundwater quantity: This report also identifies three subwatersheds that are stressed based on monthly and/or annual demand on available groundwater supply. These include the Middle Spencer Creek subwatershed, in which the Greensville municipal well system operates. Future risks to groundwater quantity: Based on the findings of the stress assessment, an assessment of the risks from overuse, drought and reduced recharge on the Greensville municipal wells was completed. The risk of having water quantity issues is low. Existing stresses on source water quality: Neither of the two municipal drinking water supplies within Hamilton Region Source Protection Area has existing water quality issues that could render the supplies unusable. Also, neither water supply exhibits a significant threat due to conditions resulting from past land use activities. Version 3.1, October 2017 i HAMILTON REGION SOURCE PROTECTION AREA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ASSESSMENT REPORT Existing and future risks to source water quality: Only within the Greensville wellhead protection areas are vulnerability scores high enough to pose potential significant threats to groundwater quality. Existing activities that could cause an issue at the wells are associated with sewage systems. The numbers of occurrences of this drinking water threat in the Hamilton Area are documented in Section 7 of this Assessment Report. Modelling results also show existing risks to Lake Ontario water quality from activities occurring within and outside the Hamilton Region Source Protection Area. Follow Up This Assessment Report is a living document. It will be reviewed and updated periodically in compliance with the Clean Water Act and as data/information becomes available that could affect the Source Protection Plan. This report identifies technical work that will be included in a work plan for a review and update of the Source Protection Plan required to be submitted to the province by November 30, 2018. The work will be completed over the next few years when funding is available. This update to the Assessment Report is focused on the Greensville municipal well field assessments. However, other edits were made to fix typographical and formatting errors and provide clarity, where needed. The work plan will propose a more substantive review and update. ii Version 3.1, October 2017 HAMILTON REGION SOURCE PROTECTION AREA TABLE OF CONTENTS ASSESSMENT REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ i 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1 THE SOURCE PROTECTION PLANNING PROCESS ........................................................................ 1 1.2 THE ASSESSMENT REPORT AND ITS FOCUS ............................................................................. 2 1.3 PARTICIPANTS IN THE PLANNING PROCESS ............................................................................. 4 2. HAMILTON REGION SOURCE PROTECTION AREA .......................................................... 6 2.1 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY .................................................................................................... 8 2.1.1 Physiography and Surficial Geology: Landforms .................................................... 8 2.1.2 Bedrock Geology: Rock Formations and Landforms .............................................. 13 2.1.3 Hydrostratigraphy: Groundwater Resources ........................................................ 20 2.1.4 Land Cover .....................................................................................................21 2.2 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY .....................................................................................................25 2.2.1 Existing Policies for the Protection of Water Sources ............................................. 25 2.2.2 Population Distribution and Density .................................................................... 28 2.2.3 Land Use .......................................................................................................31 3. HAMILTON REGION SOURCE PROTECTION AREA WATERSHEDS ................................ 34 3.1 SPENCER CREEK .........................................................................................................34 3.2 URBAN HAMILTON CORE ................................................................................................41 3.3 RED HILL CREEK .........................................................................................................41 3.4 URBAN HAMILTON BEACH STRIP .......................................................................................42 3.5 STONEY-BATTLEFIELD CREEKS .........................................................................................43 3.6 STONEY CREEK WATERCOURSES .......................................................................................43 3.7 GREAT LAKES WATER ...................................................................................................44 3.7.1 Lake Ontario ...................................................................................................44 3.7.2 Hamilton Harbour ............................................................................................46 3.7.3 Cootes Paradise .............................................................................................. 48 4. WATER MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING .................................................................. 50 4.1 METEOROLOGICAL DATA ................................................................................................50 4.1.1 Long-term Climate Data ...................................................................................53