Keeping the Rouge Watershed healthy

Although only a small portion of the Rouge Watershed falls in Pickering, City staff believe it's a significant public asset that should be protected.

Council recently approved the final draft of the Rouge River Watershed Plan, a draft report from the Rouge Watershed Task Force, which has been working on it for two-and-a-half years. The task force includes members from the public, not-for-profit organizations, and representatives from all levels of government agencies, and is co-ordinated by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and Rouge Park. Ward 3 Regional Councillor Rick Johnson is the municipality's representative. The watershed spans 336 square kilometres of land and water and less than five per cent of that is in Pickering.

"It's got a rich, rich history and we're a little part of that, so we can celebrate it, too," said Catherine Rose, the City's policy planning manager.

Although the watershed is currently healthy, the plan finds it's showing signs of stress from the effects of urban development. Stress includes increased water pollution and surface runoff, greater annual flow volumes in rivers and streams and loss of biodiversity.

"They are signs that the ability of the air, land and water to absorb the negative impacts of human activities is strained and cannot be sustained over the long term unless fundamental changes are made," the report states.

Therefore, the plan recommends strategies to address those negative impacts and to develop and use sustainable practices for future development. There are also nearly 140 specific implementation recommendations. The three broad strategies are: establishing a targeted terrestrial natural heritage system; building sustainable communities; and, developing a regional open space system. The task force's goals address: groundwater; surface water; stream form; aquatic system; terrestrial system; air quality and climate change; cultural heritage; nature-based recreation; and, sustainable land and resource use.

Ms. Rose said since most of the developable lands that lie in Pickering already have homes on them, if any development were to occur on Pickering's part of the watershed, it would be "very minor infilling."

The plan will go to the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority Board at the end of March for its approval.
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