Twelve Mile Creek Watershed Plan

The Twelve Mile Creek watershed is located within the Regional Municipality of Niagara including the Town of Pelham, City of Thorold, City of St. Catharines and the Town of Lincoln. The total drainage of the watershed is 178 square kilometres. The Twelve Mile Creek watershed contains 6 subwatersheds including Upper Twelve Mile Creek, Lake Gibson System, Richardson Creek, Francis Creek, Dicks Creek and Lower Twelve Mile Creek. Individual restoration strategies have been prepared for each of the subwatersheds to protect the unique characteristics of each system.

The Upper Twelve Mile Creek subwatershed contains the headwaters of Twelve Mile Creek. This subwatershed contains the highest percentage of natural areas in the watershed and is rich in Carolinian flora. The headwaters also support the only identified cold water streams in the Niagara Region that supports naturally reproducing brook trout populations. The Lake Gibson System is a human-made arrangement of reservoirs located primarily in the City of Thorold that is currently being studied for sediment contamination. The Richardson Creek subwatershed is located primarily in the City of St. Catharines. Richardson Creek flows through rural and agricultural areas before emptying into Martindale Pond. The Francis Creek subwatershed flows through residential areas and also includes a large storm channel that has established aquatic habitat deeming it an important fishery. Dicks Creek also flows through an urban area before meeting up with the Old Welland Canal, which eventually empties into Twelve Mile Creek. Both Francis Creek and Dicks Creek are located in the City of St. Catharines. The Lower Twelve Mile Creek subwatershed experiences water fluctuations and faster flows as a result of the DeCew Power Generating Station. This subwatershed also contains Martindale Pond and the provincially significant Barnesdale Marsh.

The unique environmental character of the subwatersheds has resulted in an assortment of issues related to water resources, fish and aquatic habitat, natural heritage resources, urban development and communication. The watershed issues, which were derived from public input and past studies, were used to form a set of watershed objectives that guided the development of subwatershed restoration strategies and an implementation plan.

Figure 1: Location of the Twelve Mile Creek Watershed

The subwatershed strategies include sites for riparian, wetland and upland habitat restoration that have been derived from detailed restoration suitability mapping. In addition, project opportunities on private and public lands have been identified such as erosion control, and shading to reduce water temperatures in the headwaters. Special studies including policy tools and urban water conservation programs have also been proposed. The implementation plan identifies responsible stakeholders for each recommended management action. The recommended management actions have been prioritized and include riparian, wetland and upland restoration and creation to enhance water quality, fish habitat and recreation; specific policy tools including municipal and regional official plan amendments; outreach and communication for various aspects of water resources management; and research and monitoring programs to obtain additional data from which the Twelve Mile Creek Watershed Plan can be updated and revised every 5 years.