2018 Watershed Report Cards

Watershed Report Cards

What is a Watershed?

A watershed is an area of land drained by a creek or stream into a river which then drains into a body of water such as a lake or pond. Everything in a watershed is connected – actions upstream affect conditions downstream.

The St. Clair Region watershed is divided into 14 subwatersheds:

What is a Watershed Report Card?

Ontario’s Conservation Authorities prepare Watershed Report Cards every five years to measure the environmental health of our regions and report on watershed conditions. The Watershed Report Cards use a set of indicators (e.g. total phosphorus, E. coli, and benthic macroinvertebrates) to measure and report on the status of three main resource categories (Surface Water Quality, Forest Conditions, and Groundwater Quality) in each watershed. Conservation Ontario guidelines and standards developed by Conservation Authorities and their partners were used to produce the Watershed Report Cards.

The findings from the Watershed Report Cards are used by Authorities to identify priority areas and direct actions. The results can also be used by watershed residents, all levels of government, industry and environmental agencies to help conserve, restore and protect the natural resources that support us.