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

LAKE ERIE NORTH SHORE WATERSHED PLAN
In the Lake Erie North Shore watershed, over 61 percent of the watercourses have been
classified as municipal drains. The drainage classifications range from Class B to Class
F; the majority have a Class F designation (Table 6).
Table 6: Municipal Drains
Class Drain Name Subwatershed
B Point Abino Drain-main channel Point Abino Drain
B Wignell Drain Wignell Drain
C Bearss Drain Bearss Drain
C Casey Drain-main branch Casey Drain
C Beaverdam Drain-south portion Beaverdam Drain P.C
C Silver Bay Drain Bearss Drain
D Furry Drain Lowbanks Drain
E Bay Beach Area Drain Bay Beach Area Drain
E Little Marsh Drain Lowbanks Drain
E Boulton Ditch Drain Lowbanks Drain
E Eagle Marsh Drain-main branch Eagle Marsh Drain
F Point Abino Drain-northern branch Point Abino Drain
F William-Michael Drain Bearss Drain
F Neff Drain Bearss Drain
F Oil Mill Creek Drain Oil Mill Creek Drain
F Beaverdam Drain-northern portion Beaverdam Drain P.C
F Michener Drain Wignell Marsh Drain
F Central Park Drain Welland Canal South
F Bessey Branch Drain Eagle Marsh Drain
F Casey Drain: East, West and North Branches Casey Drain
F Hoover Creek Drain Hoover Drain
F H.E. Dickout Drain Lowbanks Drain
F Chalmers Dickout Drain Lowbanks Drain
In general, Municipal Drains are designed to facilitate in land drainage, prevent flooding
and move water quickly through the watercourse (they are dredged and straightened,
and there is no connection between the floodplain and the channel), therefore it would
imply that the watercourses would be classified as flashy (VanRiezen 2010). Some
factors that influence the shape of the hydrograph for the watercourses in the Lake Erie
North Shore watershed suggest that the majority of the watercourses actually are not
flashy. Physical characteristics found during the NPCA Lake Erie North Shore
Geomorphology Study (2009b) would suggest that most of the watercourses have some
degree of being sluggish.
1. Eight of the eleven designated Municipal Drain subwatersheds have wetlands
within their boundaries which results in the storage of water.
2. The surrounding topography is flat which will affect the time it takes for the water
to get to the watercourse by direct runoff.
3. Vegetation type, impervious area, as well as soil type within the subwatershed
will influence the shape of the hydrograph. If the water cannot infiltrate into the
ground then it will increase the direct runoff and produce a flashy hydrograph.
The major land uses within the subwatersheds include monoculture, rural
landuse, wooded areas, mixed agriculture, and built-up areas (impervious). The
majority of field sites visited had some degree of vegetation in the riparian
corridor.
4. Municipal Drain maintenance will control the longitudinal profile of the
watercourse (the way in which the stream‟s elevation changes over distance). If
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