Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority TOWARDS A WATERSHED PLAN MAY 1983 Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority - J. Drumm, Chairman Introduction Local resource management issues continually affect the residents of the Whitby - Oshawa - Bowmanville area. The region is faced with annual flooding. problems, deteriorating quality of its watercourses, urban enroachment into natural and agricultural areas, continuing stress upon wildlife and fish populations, the loss of property through erosion, problems of urban drainage, conflicts among resource users, competing demands for recreational resources, and various other problems. This results in economic costs of various sorts borne both by individuals (e.g. in dealing with flood and erosion damages) and by the community in general (e.g. through increases-in water treatment costs because of pollution and sedimentation, through increased food costs because of loss of agricultural lands, etc.) This also results in changes in the quality of life for people within the region which, though they may not be measurable in economic terms, are nonetheless important. Central Lake Ontario Conservation A uthority- The Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authori- ty has been involved in resolving these issues since its establishment in July of 1958. The Authority is a corporate body establisied under The Conservation Authorities Act with a mandate for establishing resource management programs. The general goal of the Authority can be stated as follows: "To establish and undertake programs for the management, conservation, restoration, and development of natural resources, other than gas, oil, coal and minerals, within the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority area, in a manner whereby benefits to the community and to the environment in general are maximized." The Authority, as with ail Conservation Authorities throughout the province, has been set up on a watershed basis in order to avoid jurisdictional conflicts when dealing with water reiated problems. The major watersheds within the Authority area are those which drain into the Lynde Creek, Pringle Creek, Oshawa Creek,' Harmony - Farewell Creeks, and Bowmanville - Soper Creeks. This comrises a total area of 627 square kilometres. T e southern Authority boundary is composed of a 30-kilometre reach of Lake Ontario shoreline, while the northern boundary is formed by the height of land (the Oak Ridges Moraine) which separates the Lake Ontario from the Lake Scugog watersheds. Oshawa Creek at Hwy.no1,rcwdh 2en fin0ev in ilnds eepas swell to many times their normal width engufing everything in their path. The Watershed.,Plan u aun ei ort to provide a more comprehensive, co-ordinated and efficient approach to resource management, all Conservation Authorities throughout the province are preparing watershed plans for their respective areas. The primary goal of the watershed planning exercise is to set out the direction of Authority programs for future years. This can be ac- complished by examin- ing the effectiveness of existing programs in light of current resource management problems and pubicneeds. What are the major resource management problems in the local area? What programs are require dby the public for dealing with these problems, for pro- viding recreational op- portunities, and for managing resources in general? Are existing Authority programs adequately responding to these problems? What changes can be enacted to improve existing programs? Are new rograms requir- ed? swers to - these questions will form the basis of the watershed plan. The watershed pIan, then, is essentialîy a document which out- lines a strategy for ef- fectively managing re- sources, for dealing with resource related problems and for meet- ing the public needs. The various problem areas and programs dis- cussed below wilH be evaluated through the watershed plan. INDEX 2 - Flooding and Flood Control 3 - Erosion and Water Management 4 - Map of Watershed 5 - Map of Watershed 6 - Forest and Fish and Wildlife 7 - Conservation Recreation Information and Education 8 - Public-Response MAY 1983 maim