Fort Erie Creeks Watershed Plan - Niagara Peninsula Conservation ...

Reach FRC-5 was surrounded by the Rio Vista Golf and Country Club, established sometime
before 1978. The vegetation surrounding most of the creek consisted of manicured fairway
grasses and some dense plots of forest species. The channel planform appears to have changed
between 1978 and 2005, with an increase in meander formation observed in the 2005
photographs. There was also an addition of one extra cart bridge that was constructed over the
middle portion of the reach in 2005 that was not present in 1978. Otherwise, there did not appear
to be any other observable differences to characterize this reach between the two years studied.
Observations for Reach FRC-8 suggest a slight change in the surrounding land use observed for
all three years of photography. The downstream portion of the western bank has been used as a
large cemetery since sometime before 1955, and only the amount of land used for burial sites has
progressively increased from 1955. A large parcel of land was used as an automobile wreckage
yard sometime prior to 2005 but was not present in 1955 and 1978. There did not appear to be
any other changes in land use observed between 1955, 1978 and 2005. The vegetation
immediately adjacent to the channel in this reach made it difficult to determine if changes in
planform were present between the three years. For this reason, no conclusions regarding
channel planform have been described for Reach FRC-7.
The majority of Reaches FRC-8, FRC-9 and the downstream portion of FRC-10 were surrounded
by the Bridgewater Golf and Country Club, established sometime before 1955. The trees and
shrubs growing within the golf course boundaries have aged and become denser, otherwise no
other significant changes in surrounding land use were observed between the years studied. A
few additional outbuildings and maintenance sheds were constructed along the southern bank of
the downstream portion of FRC-8 prior to 2005, but this construction did not appear to require
any alterations to the channel. A weir structure was built across the southern portion of the golf
course property and Reach FRC-8 prior to 2005. This weir created a backwater affect upstream
and a ponding area downstream of the weir that was observed in the 2005 aerial photographs.
However, the quality and scale of the 1955 and 1978 has made it impossible to determine when
this weir was built. Additional cart and maintenance bridges have been built across portions of
both Reaches FRC-8 and FRC-9, but no other changes in channel planform were observed within
these reaches.
The remaining section of Reach FRC-10, as well as Reach FRC-11 display a progression from
agricultural land uses to somewhat more scrubland and wetland features. There was also an
increase in the amount of road infrastructure present in 1978 and 2005 that required the altering
of the channel planform for its construction. In 1955, the downstream portion of Reach FRC-11,
and the upstream portion of FRC-12 consisted of a natural meander pattern. Between 1955 and
1978, Reach FRC-11 was completely modified and straightened so that it fit into the plans for
the Q.E.W-Gilmore Road-Spears Road North intersections.
A steady progression in the transition from agricultural crops lands to scrubland and woodlots
blocks was observed for the remaining four reaches located on the main branch of Frenchmen’s
Creek. In 1955 the majority of the surrounding parcels of land surrounding FRC-12, FRC-13,
FRC-14 and FRC-15 consisted of agricultural fields with only small parcels of dense woodlot
parcels. In 1978, all but a small portion of Reach FRC-14 and Reach FRC-15 were over taken
by scrubland vegetation. By 2005, only the upper half of Reach FRC-14 remained agricultural
March 2008 33 Fort Erie Creeks Watershed Plan
General Report (105116)