Oshawa/Courtice, Ontario

HARMONY CREEK WATERSHED &

FAREWELL - BLACK CREEK WATERSHED

WHAT IS A WATERSHED?

A watershed is an area drained by a river or stream. In our case, it is the Farewell Creek with its two main tributaries, Harmony and Black; each stream is fed by many smaller streams which regulate temperature in creeks; finally, these creeks feed Second Marsh in Oshawa and Lake Ontario.

PROBLEMS CAUSED BY OUR ACTIONS:

Almost anything we pour into our drain, each flush of our toilet, pesticizers/fertilizers we use, even our car leak, etc. seeps into the soil to our groundwater or it gets directly into the stream and finally it will end up in Lake Ontario, our source of drinking water. Paving, storm runoff, stream diversions, plowing under smaller streams and building on top of them, building on aquifers or too close to the streams, removing vegetation along streams, etc. all have negative impacts on water in our streams; the results of the above actions include aquifer contamination, deteriorating water quality, raising water temperature, loss of fish, soil erosion and flooding. Latest flooding in Manitoba, Quebec, Europe and other places are just results of all the above activities.

WHAT MORE YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT OUR WATERSHED:

Farewell, Black and Harmony Creeks rise well below our regional groundwater recharge at Oak Ridges Moraine. The area around Taunton up to highway No. 2 possesses a high water table and/or is underlain by sandy and gravelly soils which serve as significant recharge area. Both the high water table and recharge areas are important for the maintenance of baseflows in Harmony, Farewell and Black Creeks. A significant portion of the original recharge area has been developed. In spite of that the baseflow in all streams was reduced, the temperature is rising and more sediment and pollution is entering these streams. There are plans to reduce or completely eliminate this area.

This area is important not only for the sustaining of these cold water creeks and Second Marsh in Oshawa, but also to us because they drain into Lake Ontario - our source of drinking water. A study done for the Region in 1994 states that: "This development represents a significant loss in the supply of clean water to these streams. The remnant woodlots is what remains of a once extensive forested tract that connected the Farewell and Bowmanville watersheds. These significant woodlots controlled streamflow and water temperature".

They are: Harmony Conservation Area, Trulls Road Woods and Courtice Woods and Provincially Significant Black/Farewell Wetland Complex. All of them now except Harmony are under threat by approved additional development. Our government is not yet aware of what they are approving and how they are going to affect our health in the future.

Glossary for our web pages (more may be added later on) :

• Aquifers: Any water-bearing soil or rock formation that is capable of yielding sufficient water for streams or human use for wells.
• Groundwater: Slowly moving water found underground in porous rock supplying our streams and lakes.
• Recharge: The replenishment of groundwater by infiltration or seepage from precipitation or surface runoff.
  

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