Barrie Creeks, Lovers Creek, and Hewitt's Creek Subwatershed Plan

The Barrie Creeks, Lovers Creek and Hewitt’s Creek Subwatershed Plan
application, methods of increasing public awareness of the environmental impacts of
road salt, and the effectiveness of municipal Salt Management Plans.
3.5.3 Agriculture
Subwatershed modelling (that excludes atmospheric) indicates that 27% and 34% of
phosphorus loads can be attributed to agriculture in the Hewitt’s and Lovers Creek
subwatersheds, respectively. Recent water quality monitoring (2008 to 2010) within these two
creeks has shown that phosphorus concentrations regularly exceed the provincial standards.
Considering the current concentrations of phosphorus in Hewitt’s and Lovers Creek, and the
high proportion that can be attributed to agricultural sources, actions leading to reduction in
agricultural phosphorus loads to these two creeks is a priority.
Within the current management framework, the Nutrient Management Act contains the most
stringent policies related to agriculture, as it requires plans for the management of nutrients
created and/or stored on farms. Other policies relate to the protection of agricultural resources,
but few relate to the management of nutrients from agricultural areas, with only ‘have regard to’
statements encouraging the use of agricultural BMPs.
Although there are currently no requirements for farmers to undertake BMPs such as cover
crops, conservation tillage, the planting of windrows, and leaving riparian buffers intact, there
are a number of available programs to assist farmers to implement these programs. In
particular, the Environmental Farm Plan program and LSRCA’s Landowner Environmental
Assistance Program (LEAP) provide guidance and funding for a number of types of projects.
Other gaps in current management include policies requiring livestock to be fenced and kept out
of watercourses, an activity that causes numerous water quality issues as well as causing bank
instability.
Recommendation 3-15 - That the subwatershed municipalities, through the LSRCA,
create a roundtable made up of municipalities, LSRCA, MOE, MNR, OFA, NGOs, and
related landowner representatives, or through existing frameworks such as the Lake
Simcoe Stewardship Network, to determine co-operative ways of implementing
phosphorus reduction and improved water quality measures in Hewitt’s, Lovers, and
Innisfil Creeks, and to develop an ‘action plan’ for their implementation within the
agricultural and rural communities.
Recommendation 3-16 - That the spatially-explicit tool to be developed under
Recommendations 5-7 and 5-8 (Chapter 5 – Aquatic Habitat) be used to prioritize
allocation of stewardship resources, so that funds are provided in locations where
maximum phosphorus reduction can be achieved.
Note that unrestricted livestock access and its related impacts were reported on and remedial
actions are recommended as part of the implementation of agricultural BMPs in Chapter 5 -
Aquatic Natural Heritage. Recommendations 5-7 and 5-8 are most relevant to the concern.
3.5.4 Water Temperature – thermal degradation
Increases in stream temperature in the subwatersheds, whether they are due to impervious
surfaces, lack of riparian vegetation, reduction of groundwater contributions, or climate change,
negatively affect the distribution and existence of coldwater species like brook trout and mottled
sculpin due to their restrictive thermal requirements.
Recommendation 3-17 – That, as new or retrofit stormwater facilities are constructed,
LSRCA work with subwatershed municipalities to reduce potential thermal impacts of
Chapter 3: Water Quality – Surface and Groundwater 134