South Niagara Falls WaterShed Plan

The Niagara Water Quality Protection Strategy ( NWQPS ) (2003) has identified the need to manage Niagara's watersheds in such a manner as to "sustain healthy rural and urban communities in harmony with a natural environment, rich in species diversity". The Provincial Policy Statement ( PPS ), issued under the Planning Act , now includes policies whereby Planning Authorities shall protect, improve or restore the quality and quantity of water by using the watershed as an ecologically meaningful scale for land use planning. The South Niagara Falls Watershed Plan will make recommendations to Planning Authorities on the best way to protect, improve and restore water quality and quantity in the land use planning process as well as recommend a restoration program and associated strategies to achieve the NWQPS vision.

The South Niagara Falls Watershed Plan will provide strategies that will allow the community to care for water resources, natural heritage, settlement and agriculture in the context of land use planning documents (e.g., Official Plans). It will also provide strategies for implementing the watershed initiatives and specify who is responsible for remedial actions outside of the land use planning process (e.g., restoration opportunities on public and private lands). The South Niagara Falls Watershed Plan will generally follow the process described in Water Management on a Watershed Basis: Implementing an Ecosystem Approach , (MOEE, MNR 1993).

The South Niagara Falls watershed includes all of Local Management Areas 2.14 and 2.17 as identified in the NWQPS (2003), including a portion of the City of Niagara Falls, City of Welland, City of Port Colborne and Town of Fort Erie. Several subwatersheds form the South Niagara Falls watershed including Grassy Brook, Hunters Drain, Lyons Creek, and Tee Creek, which all drain into the Welland River. Bayers Creek, Niagara River subwatersheds 12, 14, 15, 16 and 18, as well as Usshers Creek are also included in the watershed. However, these watercourses drain to the Niagara River through multiple outfalls (Figure 1). Most of the land use in the South Niagara Falls watershed is urban (residential, commercial, industrial) or slated for future urban use.

Local Management Area 2.17 drains into the Niagara River. The Niagara River has been designated by the federal and provincial governments in cooperation with the International Joint Commission (IJC) as one of 43 Areas of Concern (AOC) in the Great Lakes basin. This designation is due to degraded water quality, which impairs complete use of the River's resources. In response to concerns over the health of the entire Niagara River ecosystem, a Remedial Action Plan ( RAP ) was developed. Recommendation 23 (p.17) of the Implementation Annex states: "Municipal planning documents incorporate ecologically based policies and design criteria". In addition, page 12 of the report includes habitat targets that could be included in the Niagara Falls Official Plan and City of Welland Official Plan (e.g., 30% of the watershed should be natural forest and/or wetland, 10% of the land in each tributary as wetland, 30 metre natural vegetative buffers on streams, etc.).

The South Niagara Falls Watershed Plan will also take into consideration any changes resulting from Phase 2 of the RAP (e.g., updated delisting criteria), which will be completed in 2006. Phase 2 of the RAP will also address the known contamination issues in the Lyon's Creek subwatershed.

There are two water quality monitoring (chemical and biological) stations in the watershed; one on Lyons Creek and one on Usshers Creek. These stations have been monitored by the NPCA since 2003. Both of these creeks have impaired water quality primarily from nutrient enrichment where total phosphorus routinely exceeds the Provincial Water Quality Objective (PWQO). Water quality at Usshers Creek is alarming with observed total phosphorous concentrations up to 20 times higher than the PWQO. Benthic invertebrate samples were collected from Usshers Creek in the spring of 2004 and 2005 using the BioMAP protocol.  Analysis of the samples indicates that water quality is impaired. BioMAP samples were collected from Lyons Creek in the fall of 2001. Sample results indicate that water quality is classified as grey zone and is therefore neither impaired nor unimpaired.

Aquatic habitat is considered good in the watershed. For example, Lyons Creek, Usshers Creek, Tee Creek, Grassy Brook, Bayers Creek and their tributaries are classed as critical and important fish habitat. Several municipal drains are also located in the watershed (Tee Creek Drain, Young Drain, Howie Drain, Hunters Drain and Boyers Creek Drain), which has also been classed as critical or important fish habitat.

Urban expansion is an issue in this watershed. Niagara Falls, Welland and Chippawa are currently expanding. The Regional Municipality of Niagara's Policy Plan (2004) encourages urban development south of the Niagara Escarpment to reduce urban pressure on unique agricultural lands. Directing growth away from prime agricultural areas is consistent with the Greenbelt Plan (2005), which limits urban growth in the northern part of the Niagara Region. Therefore, the watershed plan will include strategies for the watershed municipalities to allow growth, and at the same time deal with existing and future stormwater management and natural heritage area protection.

Recreational uses in the watershed consist of a trail system along the Niagara Parkway adjacent to the Niagara River, which includes linkages to the proposed Greater Niagara Circle Route including the Parkway Trail and trail system along the Welland Canal. The Links of Niagara golf course and Rolling Meadows Golf and Country Club are also located in the watershed.

Scope of the Study

The intent of this project is to produce a watershed plan developed in consultation with appropriate government agencies, landowners and interest groups that assists with the management of water, land/water interactions, aquatic life and aquatic resources to protect and improve the health of the watershed ecosystem. The South Niagara Falls Watershed Plan will provide a systematic strategy to guide development, identify and recommend alternative and preferred restoration programs, and strengthen stewardship and partnerships in the watershed. Once complete, the South Niagara Falls Watershed Plan will characterize the watershed; identify and prioritize key issues in the watershed and recommend strategies based on the key issues.

Watershed Inventory and Actions

All available information pertaining to the South Niagara Falls watershed will be reviewed and any additional field surveys necessary to produce a complete characterization and inventory of the watershed and watercourse conditions (including natural channels and municipal drains) will be conducted. The study components will include but not be limited to the following:

•  Floodplain Mapping: This component of the study will undertake the necessary hydrologic and hydraulic analysis in order to generate 100 year return period floodlines for Grassy Brook, Hunters Drain, Lyons Creek, Tee Creek, Bayers Creek and Usshers Creek.

•  Stream Morphology : This component of the watershed study will confirm reach boundaries and channel sensitivities through a historic assessment and rapid geomorphic assessment.

•  Fish and Aquatic Habitat: This component of the study will assess existing fish communities and fish habitat conditions in the watershed. In addition, factors that limit the distribution (e.g., fish barriers) and abundance of healthy fish communities will be identified.

•  Natural Heritage: This component of the watershed study will include the identification of existing wetlands, woodlands, wildlife travel corridors and wildlife habitat areas as well as the relationship between wildlife and natural areas.

•  Water Quantity: Is sues pertaining to water quantity in the watershed will be assessed. For example, the watershed study will include an evaluation of the ability of watercourses (including municipal drains) to sustain healthy populations and other aquatic life, as well as recreational uses (e.g., fishing).

•  Water Quality: This component of the watershed study will assess the existing water quality of the creeks and tributaries within the South Niagara Falls Watershed.

•  Rural Point and Non-Point Source Pollution: T his component of the watershed plan will include the dissemination of a landowner survey to rural landowners to identify any rural non-point source problem areas and identify rural BMPs.

•  Urban Development: The watershed plan will investigate existing and future areas designated for urban development with respect to these potential impacts, and make recommendations to protect, improve and restore water quality and quantity in these areas recognizing the recent changes to Provincial legislation (e.g. Planning Act, Provincial Policy Statement, Greenbelt Plan and proposed Greater Golden Horseshoe Plan).