Lake Erie North Shore Watershed Plan - Niagara Peninsula ...

LAKE ERIE NORTH SHORE WATERSHED PLAN
Land Use
Current Land Use
The Lake Erie North Shore watershed study area spans the Town of Fort Erie (10%),
City of Port Colborne (51%), Township of Wainfleet (24%), and Haldimand County
(15%). Land use in the study area is characterized mainly by agriculture, recreation, and
natural areas interspersed with strips and nodes of residential areas with one small
concentration of urban land uses in Crystal Beach and one major concentration of urban
land uses (residential, commercial, industrial) in the City of Port Colborne (Figures 9a
and 9b). Numerous active and abandoned quarries are within the Lake Erie North Shore
study area. In addition, closed quarries that have been converted to recreational
activities are also present in the watershed such as Sherkston Shores Resort and
Wainfleet Wetlands Conservation Area.
Agriculture
The location of the Niagara Peninsula between the moderating influences of the Great
Lakes and the Niagara Escarpment creates a unique microclimate that supports a viable
agricultural community. In fact, the combination of geography and climate make parts of
Niagara a thriving tender fruit district (Planscape 2003). In 2001, the Region of Niagara
commissioned a study to assess the nature of agriculture in Niagara; Regional
Agricultural Economic Impact Study 2003. The study confirmed that “agriculture is of
tremendous importance to the Niagara economy both directly and indirectly” (Planscape
2003). According to the study, in 2001 the agricultural industry generated over $511
million in gross farm receipts in Niagara.
Agriculture is the most predominant land use in the Lake Erie North Shore study area
and although the study area does not fall within prime agricultural lands, the Good
General agricultural lands in this area support numerous prosperous commodity sectors.
As described earlier, the mineral soils in the area are rated as Class 3 and Class 4
according to the Canada Land
Inventory (CLI) Classification
System for Agricultural. These
soil classes have moderately
severe to severe limitations
that restrict the range of crops
and/ or require special
conservation practices. The
limitations affect one or more
of the following practices:
timing and ease of tillage;
planting and harvesting;
choice of crops; and methods
of conservation (Kingston and
Presant 1989). The organic
soils in the study area range from Class 2 to Class 4. According to the CLI Capability
Classification for Organic Soils Class 2 soils have one minor limitation; this limitation
may be woodiness, reaction, flooding, topography, depth or climate. Class 3 and Class 4
soils have moderately severe to severe limitations that restrict the range of crops and/or
require special management practices (Kingston and Presant 1989).
38