Thames-Sydenham and Region Watershed Characterization Summary Report St. Clair Region Source Protection Area December 2008 Prepared by -- -- in cooperation with -- Made possible through the support of the Government of Ontario Table of Contents Note: The numbering system used in this summary for the various sections, tables, figures and maps is identical to that used in the full Watershed Characterization Report, to enable anyone reading the summary report to easily locate the relevant information in the full report. The exceptions to this are tables 3.1-1 and 4.1-7, which were created for the summary only and are not included in the full report. Table of Contents ................................................................................................................. i List of Tables ........................................................................................................................ i List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... ii List of Maps ......................................................................................................................... ii 1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 2.0 Watershed Description .................................................................................................. 3 2.1 Source Protection Region .................................................................................... 3 2.2 Physical Description ............................................................................................ 3 2.3 Hydrology (and Climate) .................................................................................... 4 2.4 Naturally Vegetated Areas ................................................................................... 8 2.5 Aquatic Ecology .................................................................................................. 10 2.6 Human Characterization ...................................................................................... 11 2.7 Water Uses ........................................................................................................... 13 3.0 Water Quality ................................................................................................................ 15 3.1 Selecting Indicator Parameters ............................................................................ 15 3.2 Raw Water Characterization for Inland Surface Water ....................................... 16 3.3 Groundwater Quality ........................................................................................... 18 3.4 Raw Water Characterization for Drinking Water Intakes ................................... 22 4.0 Water Quantity .............................................................................................................. 29 5.0 Description of Vulnerable Areas ................................................................................... 31 6.0 Existing Drinking Water Threats Inventories ............................................................... 33 6.1 Threats to Water Quality ...................................................................................... 33 6.2 Known Water Quality Issues ............................................................................... 34 7.0 Summary of Identified Issues and Concerns ................................................................ 35 7.1 Identified Issues ................................................................................................... 35 7.2 Identified Concerns .............................................................................................. 35 Maps List of Tables Table 2.3.1.2-3 St. Clair Region Annual Precipitation 1950-2005 in mm ........................ 6 Table 2.6.2-2 Population Projections Census Divisions - Ontario Ministry of Finance . 11 Table 2.6.11.1-2 Farmland in SCRCA Census Regions ...................................................... 12 Table 2.6.5-1 Active Landfills in the St. Clair Region Source Protection Area 13 Table 3.1-1 Water Quality Parameter Examples .......................................................... 15 Table 3.3.2.2-2 Range of Parameters above Ontario Drinking Water Standards/ Guidelines/Objectives in the SCRCA PGMN Wells for 2002-2006 ...... 19 Table 3.4.1-1 Intakes Servicing St. Clair Region Conservation Authority Watershed .. 22 Table 4.1-1 Number of Water Taking Permits by Sector in the St. Clair Region ....... 30 Table 4.1-7 Water Treatment Plant Capacities ............................................................. 30 Table 7.2-1 Threats to Drinking Water Quality ............................................................ 35 i List of Figures Figure 2.3.3.2-1 Sydenham River Length and Fall .............................................................. 4 Figure 2.3.1.2-7 St. Clair Region Average Temperature 1950-2005 .................................... 5 Figure 2.3.1.2-1 Annual Precipitation Normals ................................................................... 6 Figure 2.3.1.2-3 St. Clair Region Annual Precipitation 1950-2005 .................................... 7 Figure 3.2.4-1 Box and Whisker Plot ................................................................................ 16 Figure 3.3.3.1-1 Coliform Bacteria Subgroups .................................................................... 21 Figure 5.3.3-1 Town of Petrolia IPZ-1 .............................................................................. 32 List of Maps Map 1: Thames-Sydenham & Region Source Protection Region .................................... 39 Map 2: Drainage Areas ....................................................................................................... 40 Map 3: Bedrock Topography ............................................................................................. 41 Map 4: Bedrock Geology ................................................................................................... 42 Map 5: Overburden Thickness ........................................................................................... 43 Map 6: Surficial Geology ................................................................................................... 44 Map 7: Physiography .......................................................................................................... 45 Map 8: Soils Information ................................................................................................... 46 Map 9: Topography ............................................................................................................ 47 Map 10: Environment Canada Climate Stations ................................................................. 48 Map 11: Watershed Hydrologic Conditions Monitoring .................................................... 49 Map 12: Bedrock Water Table ............................................................................................. 50 Map 13: Potential Groundwater Discharge Areas ............................................................... 51 Map 14: Provincial Groundwater Monitoring Network ..................................................... 52 Map 15: Permit to Take Water Locations by Type .............................................................. 53 Map 16: Permit to Take Water Locations by Usage ............................................................ 54 Map 17: Intrinsic Susceptibility Index ................................................................................. 55 Map 18: Municipal Drain Classifications ............................................................................ 56 Map 19: Watercourse Classifications ................................................................................... 57 Map 20: Percent Wetland Cover by Subwatershed ............................................................. 58 Map 21: Percent Woodland Cover by Subwatershed .......................................................... 59 Map 22: Electro-fishing Sites ............................................................................................... 60 Map 23: Benthic Sampling Sites ......................................................................................... 61 Map 24: Benthic Sampling Analysis Results by Subwatershed ......................................... 62 Map 25: Generalized Land Cover ........................................................................................ 63 Map 26: Oil and Gas Wells .................................................................................................. 64 Map 27: Transportation ........................................................................................................ 65 Map 28: Land Capability for Agriculture ............................................................................ 66 Map 29: Water Wells ............................................................................................................ 67 Map 30: Drinking Water Supplies/Intakes ........................................................................... 68 Map 31: Wastewater Treatment ............................................................................................ 69 Map 32: Surface Water Quality Sampling Sites .................................................................. 70 Map 33: Wellhead Protection Areas ....................................................................................