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

The Barrie Creeks, Lovers Creek and Hewitt’s Creek Subwatershed Plan
An assessment of the “extreme-case scenario” for development in these subwatersheds is
shown in Figure 6-18. This assessment assumes full build-out in the settlement areas and the
annexed lands (i.e. all natural heritage features not protected by LSPP, municipal official plan,
or Conservation Authority regulation and all agricultural lands converted to urban land use), and
all unprotected natural heritage features outside settlement areas converted to agricultural land
use.
This scenario results in a slight increase in the amount of urban land use in the Barrie Creeks
subwatershed, and a substantial increase in the Lovers Creek and Hewitt’s Creek
subwatersheds (associated with the annexed lands). This scenario also results in net
decreases in both agricultural land and natural heritage features to offset the projected urban
growth. As mentioned above, natural heritage features vulnerable to development include
grasslands and small isolated forests. The extent of urban intensification projected in these
subwatersheds suggests that the indirect impacts associated with urban intensification, such as
impacts associated with adjacent road traffic, an increase in invasive species, trophic cascades,
and other stresses outlined in Sections 6.3.2 to 6.3.9 may become even more significant
stressors in these subwatersheds in the future. Unfortunately, these indirect effects are more
difficult to control through mechanisms such as municipal Official Plans.
Figure 6-18: Extreme-case scenario of possible land use change in the Barrie Creeks, Lovers
Creek, and Hewitt’s Creek subwatersheds.
Chapter 6: Terrestrial Natural Heritage 303