Physical Characteristics and Land Uses of the Avon River Drainage ...

I. INTRODUCTIONThe Avon River is a small tributary of the North Thames River, located entirely within PerthCounty. Arising in a moraine area to the east and north-east of Stratford, it flows in asouth westerly direction through a level till plain. Eventually it joins the North Thames Riverabove the town of St. Marys. The drainage basin of the Avon River occupies 165 km 2 (64mi 2 ).Basin lands have experienced a long period of human settlement. Principle land uses areagricultural (82%) and urban (8%). The developed urban area of Stratford exerts adominant influence on the Avon River due to its large size relative to the basin area. Evenabove Stratford however, the intensity of agricultural use results in a water course that isno longer a "natural" stream.This report documents information describing the physical and human geography of thearea -- including geologic data, soils data, drainage characteristics, population, land usesand agricultural practices. The information is organized in terms of drainage areas in thebasin. The basic breakdown for these drainage areas, presented in Figure 1, was governedby the location of water quality sampling stations established for the Stratford-Avon RiverEnvironmental Management Project. Throughout most of the report these sub-basins areaggregated into upper and lower basins. The precise demarcation for these two areas iswater quality station 6 in Stratford. More generally, the split coincides with the divisionof lands above and below Stratford and with the division of rural lands between DownieTownship to the West and North Easthope, South Easthope and Ellice Township to the East(Figure 2).1