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

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The Barrie Creeks, Lovers Creek and Hewitt’s Creek Subwatershed Plan and Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs provide the Lake Simcoe Community Stewardship Program for non-farm rural landowners in the Lake Simcoe watershed. This program is intended to provide non-farm rural residents with financial and technical assistance in implementing projects such as shoreline stabilization, septic system upgrades, wetland creation, and forest management, among others. In the Barrie Creeks, Lovers Creek, and Hewitt’s Creek subwatersheds, this program is implemented in partnership with the Dufferin/South Simcoe Land Stewardship Network and the South Simcoe Streams Network. The Lake Simcoe Community Stewardship Program has implemented three shoreline improvement projects in the Barrie Creeks subwatershed thus far. The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has also partnered with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association to provide the Environmental Farm Program to registered farm landowners throughout the province. This farmer-focused program provides funding to landowners who have successfully completed an Environmental Farm Plan for projects including management of riparian areas, wetlands, and woodlands. Through this program, no projects that would directly improve terrestrial natural heritage have been completed in the City of Barrie, while in the Town of Innisfil less than five have been implemented. In 2008 and 2009, LSRCA field staff surveyed the majority of the watercourses in these subwatersheds through the Best Management Practices Inventory Program, documenting the range of potential stewardship projects that could be implemented to help improve water quality and fish habitat. This survey found over 200 additional places in these three subwatersheds where additional riparian planting could be introduced. The forthcoming shoreline management strategy, and wetland and riparian area prioritization exercise, will identify and prioritize stewardship opportunities in this subwatershed, specific to the shoreline and inland riparian and headwater areas respectively. These ongoing stewardship programs will soon be complemented by a forthcoming Voluntary Action Program. Initially, the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan proposed the development of a regulation to prohibit activities that would adversely affect the ecological health of the Lake Simcoe watershed (policy 6.16). Feedback during the initial rounds of consultation in development of this regulation raised concerns about its enforceability, and the need to educate the public on best management practices before taking a regulatory approach. As a result, the MOE reframed the Shoreline Regulation as a Shoreline Voluntary Action Program. The Shoreline Voluntary Action Program is intended to increase the extent of native vegetation along shorelines and reduce the use of phosphate-containing fertilizer in the watershed, through a combination of surveys which are aimed at understanding the current range of public knowledge, attitudes, and practices, and outreach to summer camps, landowners, and garden centres. This voluntary action program is being run as a two year pilot program, with ongoing monitoring to determine the rate of uptake, impacts on phosphorus levels, and impacts on native vegetation Chapter 6: Terrestrial Natural Heritage 305
The Barrie Creeks, Lovers Creek and Hewitt’s Creek Subwatershed Plan along the shoreline. After the pilot program is complete, these results will be reviewed to determine if a voluntary program is sufficient, or if a regulatory approach is necessary. 6.4.3 Science and research An ongoing commitment to applied research and science is necessary to improve our understanding of the extent, character, and function of the terrestrial natural heritage features and wildlife within the Lake Simcoe watershed. Applied science and research can include formal scientific studies, citizen scientist-based monitoring programs, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Comparatively less research is being done on terrestrial natural heritage systems, values, and features than is being done on water quality or aquatic habitats, however MNR research scientists are undertaking studies related to characterizing the natural heritage features and ecological processes in the watershed. As with water quality and aquatic research, the Lake Simcoe Science Committee plays a role in reviewing this research and making recommendations to the Minister. In addition to these specific research projects, the MNR, LSRCA, and MOE are developing a terrestrial natural heritage monitoring program which will track the condition of the Lake Simcoe watershed with respect to the targets and indicators set by the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan (and described in Section 6.2). When this data becomes available, and trends become evident, it will help to revise and refine this subwatershed plan at its five year review period. Ontario, as a Province, is fortunate in that much terrestrial natural heritage monitoring is undertaken by volunteer citizen scientists, which has the potential to complement these other studies. Programs such as the Marsh Monitoring Program, and Breeding Bird Survey coordinated by Bird Studies Canada provide information on long-term trends in wildlife populations throughout Ontario. Unfortunately, neither of these programs have established routes in the Barrie Creeks, Lovers Creek, or Hewitt’s Creek subwatersheds. Chapter 6: Terrestrial Natural Heritage 306
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Barrie Creeks, Lovers Creek, and He
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Acknowledgements The Barrie Creeks,
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• East of the Barrie Creeks subwa
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Fish Habitat -Fish communities in t
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Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS
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3.5.4 Water Temperature - thermal d
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5.3.11 Climate Change 237 5.4 ASSES
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6.5.10 Improving data management 31
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LIST OF FIGURES CHAPTER 1 Figure 1-
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Figure 2-34: Annual precipitation (
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CHAPTER 4 Figure 4-1: Hydrologic cy
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Figure 5-11: Pathways by which impe
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Figure 7-11: Riparian area with app
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Table 3-4: Surface water quality co
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CHAPTER 5 Table 5-1: Fish species c
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The Barrie Creeks, Lovers Creek and
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Creek ANNE ST N BAYFIELD ST N LINE
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Barrie Creeks, Lovers Creek, and Hewitt's Creek Subwatershed Plan

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