The 2007 Upper Thames River Watershed Report Cards

The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority's 2007 Upper Thames River Watershed Report Cards summarize an enormous amount of environmental information, with the goal of turning that information into local environmental action.

A report card was developed for each of the 28 watersheds within the Upper Thames River watershed. Each report card assesses environmental conditions within that particular watershed, grades the surface water quality and forest conditions, summarizes watershed features, and provides an action plan.

The UTRCA released the first set of watershed report cards in 2001 (click HERE to see the 2001 report cards). Since then much environmental work has been done, new stressors have developed in some watersheds, and more data and information have become available. The 2007 Upper Thames River Watershed Report Cards reflect these changes. The report cards provide an updated assessment of the current water and forest conditions and a comparison with the 2001 findings.

Surface water quality indicators include benthic invertebrates, total phosphorus, and bacteria. Surface water quality grades in the 28 watersheds range from B to D, with C being the most common grade. In most watersheds, water quality has remained steady or has shown some improvement since 2001. Forest health indicators include percent forest cover and percent forest interior. Forest condition grades in the 28 watersheds range from C to F, with D being the most common grade. No significant change has occurred from 2001 to 2007.

The 2007 report cards use a new province-wide grading system developed in 2003 by Conservation Ontario and provincial ministries to standardize reporting by all of Ontario’s conservation authorities.

In addition to the grades, the 2007 watershed report cards include a summary of resource information (watershed features), an outline of the groundwater resources, Great Lakes connections, a local action plan, and highlights of progress made since 2001.

Section 1: Background & Methodology - read as web pages or view the pdf file (10 mb)

Section 2: Watershed Features - This section provides summary tables with information. View this section as one pdf file (3.7 mb), or view each table separately by clicking on the links below (pdf files, up to 1 mb):

• 2.1 Surface Water Quality Grades
• 2.2 Forest Conditions Grades
• 2.3 Summary of Grades, 2001 vs. 2007
• 2.4 Watersheds Sorted by Grades
• 2.5 Municipalities within each Watershed
• 2.6 Watersheds within each Municipality
• 2.7 Watershed Area by County
• 2.8 Municipalities within each County
• 2.9 Major Watercourses and Drains
• 2.10 Significant Natural Sites
• 2.11 Watershed Area
• 2.12 Land Use by Watershed
• 2.13 Population (1996 vs. 2006)
• 2.14 Soil Type (% Area)
• 2.15 Physiography
• 2.16 Soil Erosion and Delivery
• 2.17 Stream Flow
• 2.18 Annual Precipitation
• 2.19 Average Annual Air Temperature
• 2.20 Agricultural Tileage and Urban Drainage

• 2.21 Watercourse Length by Type
• 2.22 Watercourse Length by Flow and Temperature Regime
• 2.23 Dams and Barriers to Fish Movement
• 2.24 Sewage Treatment Plant Facilities
• 2.25 Spills Reported
• 2.26 Wetland Cover
• 2.27 Woodland Patch Size
• 2.28 Riparian Cover
• 2.29 Vegetation Community Types (hectares)
• 2.30 Vegetation Community Types (percent)
• 2.31 Fish Species Occurrences
• 2.32 Freshwater Mussel Species Occurrences
• 2.33 Species of Concern and at Risk
• 2.34 Well Supplies
• 2.35 Trees Planted by UTRCA (2002-2006)
• 2.36 Summary of UTRCA Partnership Projects (2002-2006)
• 2.37 Aggregates

Section 3: Watershed Report Cards (28) (pdf files, each approximately 1.5 mb)

Not sure which report card you need? Click HERE for help.

• Avon River

• Black Creek

• Cedar Creek

• Dingman Creek

• Dorchester

• Fish Creek

• Flat Creek

• The Forks

• Glengowan

• Gregory Creek

• Komoka Creek

• Medway Creek

• Middle Thames

• Mud Creek

• North Mitchell

• North Woodstock

• Otter Creek

• Oxbow Creek

• Plover Mills

• Pottersburg Creek

• Reynolds Creek

• River Bend

• South Thames

• Stoney Creek

• Trout Creek

• Waubuno Creek

• Whirl Creek

• Wye Creek

Bound copies of the entire report as well as individual copies of each watershed report card are available by contacting the .

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