By Mike Renzella
The Haldimand Press
HALDIMAND—Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA), one of three Conservation Authorities operating in Haldimand, has provided a look at the current state of ground and surface water quality and local forest conditions with their 2023 Watershed Report Card.
“The NPCA’s 2023 Watershed Report Card is part of a province-wide initiative by Conservation Authorities to provide a ‘checkup’ on the health of the Niagara Peninsula watershed, focusing on surface and groundwater quality, forest conditions, and watershed features,” explained Water Quality Specialist Joshua Diamond.
Diamond said the report is a highly useful tool that helps inform and remind the public about the impact that we collectively have on our surrounding environment.
The information is also utilized by NPCA, all levels of government, industry, and others to develop programs and initiatives toward the goal of conservation, restoration, and protecting vital watershed resources.
“These report cards are produced every five years and they provide a snapshot of the status of the watershed – a baseline against which NPCA can measure and evaluate future efforts. The card’s grades, from A to F, are calculated based on standardized methods developed by Conservation Ontario,” explained Diamond.
In particular, NPCA uses the collected data to inform its work on several important initiatives, such as protecting, maintaining, and developing healthy and resilient watersheds to safeguard our drinking water, mitigating the effects of climate change, protecting people and property from flooding, and providing critical habitat for wildlife.
For 2023 on the lands contained within NPCA’s catchment area, groundwater conditions received a B, forest conditions a C-, and surface water quality a dismal D.
To grade groundwater quality, NPCA monitors 46 sites in locally significant hydrogeologic areas. The B grade has not changed since the last report card in 2017, however an NPCA release notes that ground water quality can be impacted by several factors, including geology, land use, and human activities, such as agricultural operations.
While the report card gives Haldimand’s chloride monitoring in particular a low score, Diamond explained, “The low grades for chloride of monitoring wells in our Haldimand County portion of the NPCA jurisdiction are attributed to the natural conditions of the groundwater where salts have been dissolved over time from the bedrock formation. It is not contamination from human activity.”
On current forest conditions Diamond noted, “Approximately 17% of the Niagara Peninsula watershed land base is covered by forests, which is lower than the 30% cover required by conservation science for a healthy watershed.”
NPCA cautioned in their report that improving forest conditions along the Niagara Peninsula watershed is “crucial,” adding that healthy forests help build resilient watersheds.
The report notes that more highly developed areas typically receive lower forest condition scores, something that could become a larger problem as Ontario’s ambitious development plans come into sharper focus over the next decade.
“The NPCA is helping to build resilient communities through our role in land use planning and being a leader in the use of sustainable technologies. While the NPCA understands the need for increasing the housing supply within our watersheds, we remain concerned that the effect of these actions may lead to unintended future consequences associated with the loss of critical natural heritage features such as wetlands,” said Diamond.
He added, “As a public conservation agency responsible for regulating development within wetlands, watercourses, floodplains and erosion-prone areas, the NPCA continues to work with our partners and the community to build a healthy and climate-resilient watershed, support sustainable and safe communities, and be leaders in effective watershed management.”
The low grade for surface water quality can be attributed to a number of factors: “This grade is to due high phosphorus and E. coli concentrations from non-point sources like faulty septic systems, and agricultural and livestock runoff, as well as point sources like combined sewer overflow and urban stormwater. The D grade has remained unchanged from previous NPCA report cards in 2012 and 2017.”
He continued, “There an many things the community can do to help improve surface water quality in our region. This includes planting native vegetation or enhancing wetlands on their properties, allowing for natural vegetative buffers along creeks, reducing our use of household chemicals, applying road salt responsibly during the winter, and properly maintaining septic systems.”
Diamond touted some of NPCA’s community initiatives and programs available to assist in the protection of critical watersheds, such as the Restoration and Water Well Decommissioning grant programs, the Trees for All tree-planting initiative, their land securement strategy, and the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Foundation.
For more information on the report card, as well as the various programs offered through NPCA, visit their website at npca.ca.
