One Mile Creek Watershed Plan

One Mile Creek Watershed is located within the Town of Niagara-On-The-Lake (NOTL) with its outlet located about 3.5 km to the west of the Niagara River outlet to Lake Ontario. The watershed is relatively small, with a drainage area to the creek outlet being approximately 5.2 km 2 . The creek drains a highly urbanized watershed area and flows in a northwesterly direction. Land uses within the watershed are not expected to change drastically in the future. The construction of the Epp Drain upstream of John Street diverts the majority of the headwater flows (about 30% of the drainage area) easterly to the Niagara River. Major event flows (near the regional flood flow) overflow the Epps Drain and spill into One Mile Creek. The Williams Street Pumping Station was constructed to convey flows from a portion of NOTL served by combined sewers, to the regional Water Pollution Control Plant. An overflow from the Pumping Station outlets to One Mile Creek downstream of Nassau Street. There are about 16 storm sewer outlets discharging to One Mile Creek. There are no stormwater management facilities within the watershed.

The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) completed a Watershed Flood Damage Assessment Study (1988) that evaluated flood damages throughout the Authority's jurisdiction. One Mile Creek was identified as having flood damage potential, and to date non-structural measures such as flood forecasting and flood plain management policies have been applied to the One Mile Creek Damage Centre. More recently, NPCA completed a Floodplain Mapping Study (2004) that identified the limits of the regional floodplain, surveyed existing watercourse crossings and identified potential barriers to flood conveyance for storm events with various return frequencies up to the regional storm.

One Mile Creek flows through portions of historic NOTL and has a rich cultural and archeological history dating to habitation by Native Peoples over 10,000 years ago. A portion of the creek flows along the boundary of the Parks Canada historic site that includes Fort George and the Commons that have a rich military history dating to the War of 1812 and the times of Butler's Rangers. Landsdowne Pond, a small wetland/pond at the mouth of One Mile Creek is separated from Lake Ontario by a barrier beach that forms and re-forms in response to wave action and creek flows. Landsdowne Pond also has a rich history associated with it. The Pond was once used for boating and access to Lake Ontario by the Hotel Chautauqua, an historic landmark, built in the 1920's.

Figure 1: One mile Creek Watershed

For a number of years, landowners abutting the creek and other interested individuals have raised concerns regarding the condition of the creek and associated Landsdowne Pond, and have worked with NPCA to implement a number of stewardship projects. They formed the Friends of One Mile Creek Community Group (FOMC). The FOMC has held ongoing meetings and has been active in developing projects within the watershed with support from the NPCA. The FOMC has advocated the need for a Watershed Plan for One Mile Creek in order to comprehensively address the variety of issues associated with the Creek and develop a long term strategy for correcting these concerns. The Watershed Plan would also provide a framework for a variety of undertakings to restore One Mile Creek and Landsdowne Pond and would provide the necessary technical background for various funding projects developed by the FOMC and NPCA.

The study area includes all of the lands draining to One Mile Creek, excluding the lands draining to the Epp's Drain. It also includes Landsdowne Pond and the area of the storm sewer network discharging to One Mile Creek. The total area of the watershed within the study is about 3 km 2 (excluding Epp Drain).

The watershed plan was coordinated by NPCA and developed in consultation with a steering committee consisting of representatives of the following organizations and departments: NOTL Council, NPCA, NOTL Staff, FOMC / Local Citizens, Region of Niagara, and NOTL Irrigation/Drainage Committee.