state of resource - grand river conservation authority...5.0 water resources 10 5.1 river flows 10...

2005

Exceptional WatersExceptional Waters

SSttaattee ooff tthhee RReessoouurrccee RReeppoorrtt(Grand River Paris to Brantford)

Grand River Exceptional Waters Reach (Paris to Brantford) State of the Resource Report, 2005

Exceptional Waters ReachState of the Resource Report

Paris to Brantford

R. Scott & J. Imhof,with contributions from S. Bellamy, D. Boyd, S. Cooke, J.Wright,

T. Zammit, (GRCA); K. Cornelisse,A.Timmerman, (OMNR)

November 2005Exceptional Waters Community Advisory Committee

c/o The Grand River Conservation Authority400 Clyde Rd., Cambridge, ON N1R 5W6

In 2003 the Exceptional Waters CommunityAdvisory Committee initiated a report todefine the state of the Grand River as itpassed through the Exceptional Waters reachbetween the Penman's Dam in Paris, Ontarioand the Cockshutt Bridge in Brantford,Ontario.

The Exceptional Waters Approach is a com-munity-based process that engages local com-munities to protect, manage and restorewaters of exceptional quality and productivity.The process is inclusive and strives to ensurethat exceptional environments are protectedas a community asset and resource for every-one. The emphasis is protection, managementand restoration through a process of engagingeveryone in the community, includinglandowners, interest groups, agencies andorganizations to share responsibility for theseenvironments.

The initiation of the Exceptional WatersApproach was a recommendation of theGrand River Fisheries Management Plan andidentified as a "Best Bet".This report looksbriefly at the history and state of the GrandRiver watershed with special emphasis on thisreach.

Early settlement, agricultural development andindustrialization removed up to 95% of thehistorical forested areas in the watershed.These forests contributed to the stable flowsof the river. The removal of the forests, thedischarging of sediment from agricultural landand waste from municipalities and the use ofthe river as a means of transportation createdchange.The river became an irregular flowingpolluted waterway, void of game fish and withvery poor water quality.

The devastating spring flooding, followed byextreme drought, particularly in the late1930's, brought to a head the need for changein river management.The building of damsunder the direction of the Grand RiverCommission was the first measure to controlfloods and to augment summer flows.This ledto the current situation today where the com-mission's successor, the Grand RiverConservation Authority works with otheragencies to manage not only the water flowbut the entire watershed for sustainability as acritical resource.

This State of the Resource report examines avariety of contributing factors in the riverscurrent status as an exceptional waterway.Thewatershed is a biophysical system, where thegeology and climate dictate the nature of the

stream.There are 11 physiographic areas inthe watershed. In the Exceptional Watersreach, the Galt and Paris moraines are majorcontributing factors to the character and qual-ity of this section, contributing large volumesof clear, cold ground water to the surfaceflow.The ground water is a major contributingfactor to the substantial cold water game fishthat have naturalized this area.The characterof the river changes significantly from thesource to the mouth.The coarse texture ofthe moraines and the deeply incised valley inthis reach generate major inputs of groundwa-ter contributing to higher baseflows to theriver as it drops significantly betweenCambridge and Brantford. On the table land,the moraines provide major recharge areasthat feed these water tables. The majorgroundwater inputs from the moraines helpthe river to revitalize its natural conditions.

The natural recharge found on the morainesis enhanced by the work of many partners inefforts such as the Rural Water QualityProgram. The RWQP partners with munici-palities and rural landowners to keep contami-nates from entering streams.This is accom-plished by restricting livestock access anddeveloping riparian zones next to water.

From a biological perspective, the reportlooks at the requirements for healthy aquaticcommunities and reviews their current status.Preliminary work on the biology of this reachwas done by the Grand River FisheriesManagement Plan which examined the water-shed in detail from 1994 to 1998. It calls for avariety of ways to improve overall fish habitatand the contributing factors that allow it tohappen. Based on the Fish Plan and thisreport, many indicators tell us that the river isin relatively good health. These indicatorsinclude the variety and volume of inverte-brates living in the substrate, a major sourceof fish sustenance, relatively constant tempera-tures moderated by groundwater dischargesand a thriving avian population, including insectfeeders and predators.The healthy fish popula-tion is an indicator of water quality with aside benefit of recreation and tourism to thelocal and broader communities.

In addition to surface and groundwater contri-butions, other critical components includehealthy riparian zones, wetlands and flood-plains. These also help to maintain the integri-ty of the stream channel, moderate floods,reduce bank erosion and improve water quali-ty. All three vegetative zones contain a varietyof grasses, shrubs, trees and other plants con-tributing to the improved river quality.

Maintaining these zones and restricting devel-opment or harvesting or extraction, benefitsthe overall river habitat, providing for shelterand food to the aquatic and land inhabitants.These zones are home to many land basedanimals and the diversity they add to the natu-ral experience is immense.

The human use of the river has changed. Overtime the importance of a clean river hasbecome apparent, not only from a drinkingwater perspective (and as we know Brantfordand Six Nations derive their drinking waterfrom the river), but also as a recreational andtourism component of the riverside communi-ties.The development practices of the localcommunities will have a long term impact onthese amenities. Careful management of theExceptional Waters reach and the entireGrand River watershed will prevent a rever-sion to the previous unhealthy, unattractivewaterway.

The State of the Resource report is a combi-nation of scientific research and individualinput and observations.A substantial base ofinformation on the watershed has been col-lected over time.The Grand RiverConservation Authority and other agenciesmaintain a great deal of detailed informationon the science and history of the watershed.The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources,the Ontario Ministry of the Environment andEnvironment Canada have also collected andmaintained a large amount of data on theriver and its watershed. This information issupported and can be expanded by many localvolunteer and education groups includingwildlife conservation advocates.These includeanglers and hunters who make up the bulk ofthe conservation group membership.

A number of emerging issues will challengeour ability to maintain and enhance the healthof this Exceptional Water. These emergingissues include: the impact of large influxes ofnew residents and their supporting industryand infrastructure to this reach of river; ongo-ing management and reduction of non-pointsource pollution; enhanced management ofwastewater treatment plants; and the emerg-ing issue of pharmaceutical products and theirpotential impact on fish in the river. Newmethodologies for examining these factors areconstantly being developed.

The Grand River is a true jewel upon thelandscape. Our challenge is to both maintainthe luster and to make the tarnished facets ofthe jewel shine as well!

Executive SummaryExceptional Waters State of the Resource Report Robert Scott and Jack Imhof, November 7, 2005

Grand River Exceptional Waters Reach (Paris to Brantford) State of the Resource Report, 2005 Page 1

IndexExecutive Summary 1Forward 3Introduction 4The Exceptional Waters Approach 5

1.0 History 62.0 Landscape 73.0 Land Use 84.0 A Watershed Biophysical System 85.0 Water Resources 10

5.1 River Flows 105.2 Ground Water 115.3 Channel Structure 125.4 Water Quality 13

5.4.1 Rural Water Quality Program 166.0 Biological Resources 16

6.1 Aquatic Communities 166.1.1 Fish Communities 166.1.2 Fish Habitat 146.1.3 Fish Communities in the Exceptional Waters Reach 18

6.2 Aquatic Invertebrates 186.3 Fisheries Management Planning 19

7.0 Terrestrial Resources 217.1 Vegetative 227.2 Wildlife 22

8.0 Human Useage 238.1 Recreational 23

8.1.1 Water 238.1.2 Trails 23

9.0 Issues and Threats 249.1 Urban Surface Water 249.2 Agricultural Runoff and Irrigation 249.3 Emerging Issues 24

10.0 Summary 2511.0 References 26

Appendix i 27Funders/Partners 28


The Grand River between Paris and Brantford has become a valuable community resource for residents .


The intent of this report is to provide a syn-thesis of background information on theGrand River as it passes through theExceptional Waters reach between Penman'sDam in Paris, Ontario and the CockshuttBridge at the south end of Brantford, anapproximately 20 km stretch of the river.

The Exceptional Waters Community AdvisoryCommittee endorses the development of thisreport. The Committee believes a documentillustrating some of the history and the result-ing changes in the river over time can be avaluable tool for informing residents of thespecial features of the river and can also helpinform future watershed and local resourcemanagement planning. The report can alsoprovide a baseline for measuring improve-ments to this section of the watershed.

This report began as primarily a technical doc-ument but has evolved to include observa-tions by users on both the current and futurepotential for the reach as a recreational andecological /environmental gem in the Countyof Brant and the City of Brantford.Information that is based on observation,rather than studies or measurements is identi-fied in the text. Many of the observations andexpectation apply to the watershed as awhole.

The Grand River Conservation Authority hasgathered a substantial amount of data over itsexistence as watershed managers.To supportthe water conservation and flood control pro-visions of its mandate it has of necessity need-ed to look at the watershed as an integratedentity. Much of its work therefore focuses onknowing what affects water quality and howto preserve and improve water resources,both quality and quantity, for the benefit of allresidents of the watershed.This work hasresulted in the collection of large amounts ofdata.The authors have utilized this work inexamining historic trends and possible futuredirections in watershed and local manage-ment.

In preparing the report it became obviousthere are many uses for the river.The riverhas always been a water supply for many com-munities, whether from groundwater to wellsor directly from the river. It has also been theoutlet for waste treatment facilities. Manyindustries use the water, two being gravelextraction and process water. Recreation hasonly recently begun to make a comeback,especially since waste water plants and indus-trial users have improved their stewardship ofwater use.The main users, however, are thewildlife and it is their presence that soremarkably enhances the watershed.

The most significant challenge for the authorswas to build on the recognition by the citizensand municipal governments that the river hasimproved. Many still think of it as a polluted,unpleasant mess.We hope the readers willvisit the river corridor and take a closer lookat what we really have as a communityresource. It has recovered significantly.Whenwe begin to realize this as a whole communityand reduce the contamination to a minimumwe will have accomplished our goal.

We would like to thank the many contribu-tors to the project for their input, whetherthrough technical reports or from their gener-al affection for the Grand River watershed.

Bob Scott and Jack ImhofNovember 2005

The Grand River, a Canadian Heritage RiverState of the Resource, November 7, 2005Exceptional Waters Reach,Paris to BrantfordR. Scott, J. Imhof,with contributions from J.Wright, D. Boyd, S.Cooke, S. Bellamy,T. Zammit (GRCA); A.Timmerman, K. Cornelisse (OMNR)

Foreword

The Grand River through the Exceptional Waters area has intact vegetation along its banks for most of this reach despite flowing through a well populated area.

The Exceptional Waters Approach is a com-munity-based process that engages local com-munities to protect, manage and restorewaters of exceptional quality and productivity.The process is inclusive and strives to ensurethat exceptional environments are protectedas a community asset and resource for every-one. The emphasis is protection, managementand restoration through a process of engagingeveryone in the community, including

landowners, interest groups, agencies andorganizations to share responsibility for theseenvironments.

Not all waters are created equal. Some aremore productive, functional, and aesthetic thanothers in the same region. These watersshould be managed as waters of exceptionalvalue in order to create a focus for excellencewithin their watershed. Management for

excellence encourages the improved manage-ment of other adjacent waters by facilitating alinkage in people's minds.

The initiation of the Exceptional WatersApproach was a recommendation of theGrand River Fisheries Management Plan andidentified as a "Best Bet".


Introduction

Figure 1: The Exceptional Waters Reach of the Grand River Between Paris and Brantford Showing Recreational Features.

Exceptional Waters CriteriaA Water that has exceptional productivity

and ecological values compared to surround-ing waters;Is still relatively healthy from a physical, chemi-cal and biological perspective; Has the size and aesthetics that may

attract people and provide a quality experi-ence; Has the capability of maintaining healthy

sustainable populations of fish and other ani-mals within the local and regional terrestrialand aquatic systems.

What Makes this SectionSpecial? The Fish

- Migratory and stream-resident rainbow trout- Smallmouth Bass, Pike,Walleye; Species at Risk The Natural Heritage Features

- Perched Fen, complex floodplain and valleyforests The Groundwater Flow - high discharges The Channel - healthy morphology Aesthetics of the valley Community Interest (hiking, fishing, water

sport,water quality, birding, parks, access to trails) Community Use (the Grand River is the

water supply for Brantford) Desired MeasurableOutcomes

Community awareness of their localwaters;

Awareness of the importance of the localwater by local politicians and business;

Community embraces the active, co-oper-ative management and protection of theirlocal waters;

Improvement in the local quality of life;Potential benefits to recreation and local

economics;Development of a broader watershed

stewardship ethic;Promotion and Engagement of other

Waters based on the success of the alreadyestablished Exceptional Waters.

Outcomes to Date of theInitial Exceptional Waters"Best Bet"

Community contacts with landowners andinterest groups initiated in 1998/99;

Special Regulations to protect sensitivegame fish established Jan. 2001;

General valley air photo interpretationand pool characterization summer 1999;

Major river data collection work 2000-2001;

Fish Community structure assessedthrough new scientific approach in 2000 and2001, reports completed;

Major Reports on River Habitat Healthand Characteristics completed 2002;

Draft Access Management Completed2002 and implementation begun;

User Surveys on two reaches of river -

Paris to Brantford; Brantford to Caledonia;- User preferences, concerns and access info2000, 2001;- Economic information, 2001;

Basic Water Quality information, usingsimple metrics and aquatic invertebrates;

Visual Quality Analysis (provide planninginfo for Community group underway).

The above outcomes to date of the initialExceptional Waters process are being builtupon through the more recent EW initiative.Some of the outcomes of the new initiativeinclude the establishment of the CommunityAdvisory Committee, the preparation of thisState of the Resource document and thedevelopment of a community led ResourceManagement Plan for the EW Reach.

The Exceptional Waters Approach


Goal of the Exceptional Waters Approach"To develop and promote the engagement of members of local communities so that waters

of exceptional quality may be managed as a community resource to ensure their sustainability."

Good fish habitat is found below the Lorne Bridge right in downtown Brantford.

The Grand River begins in the DundalkHighlands as a trickle and meanders its wayfor approximately 290 kilometres to PortMaitland on Lake Erie. Its valley was home toFirst Nations people long before the comingof fur trappers and later settlers. Its richnesscontributed to the health of the First Nationspopulations, providing a source of food andclothing, both from the water and surroundingriparian zone. The richness of the land andforests encouraged immigration towards theend of the 1700's and into the early 1800's.The early efforts at settlement, focusing onagriculture and lumber, resulted in a majorclearing of the land.The water resources werethe basis for much industrial developmentalong its shores.As lumber, grist, wool andvarious other industrial operations usingwaterpower were developed the quality of thewater began to decline.Additional contami-nates flowed unrestricted into the river astextiles, gypsum mining and other heavierindustries evolved and the populations grew.In time it became not much more than acesspool.

Perhaps the largest single factor in the declineof the river's quality was the deforestation ofthe upper watershed and lands around LutherMarsh. Early immigrants, believing their landgrants to be agriculture based, cleared theforests and built drainage ditches to try andmake the wetlands arable. None of this

worked.What they had accomplished was toremove the ability of the wetlands to retainwater and sustain flows year round.Theresulting flooding in the middle and lowerreaches each spring and the disastrously lowsummer flows finally reached a critical point inthe early 1900's.

It became apparent that the quality of theriver needed to improve. Fish populations haddwindled and there was no joy in a riversidewalk. More and more of the populationdepended on the river water as growthbecame too dense to depend on wells alone.The esthetics was poor and uncontrolleddevelopment had removed much of the natu-ral riparian zone vegetation.This contributedto major floods every spring. In 1934 theGrand River Commission received its charter,after heavy government involvement in search-ing for a solution to the water flows and qual-ity. Over the last half century, with the multi-level input of governments, the quality of thewater in the Grand has improved significantly.This is demonstrated by the return to theriver of the natural wildlife and fish popula-tions through sustainable summer flows.TheGrand is now recognized as a CanadianHeritage River, gaining that recognition in1994.

1.1 Local PerspectiveThe local history of the Exceptional WatersReach between Paris and Brantford isextremely interesting. The Town of Paris,Ontario was named after the product pro-duced in the area, Plaster of Paris. Kilninggypsum rock produces Plaster of Paris. Asearly as the late 1770's, large horizontal veinsor strata of gypsum were found in the valleywalls around the present Town of Paris.

The first major European settlement on thisreach of the Grand River is believed to be onthe east side of the river opposite BrantConservation Area. Remnants of settlementand travel routes are still evident for thosethat look. The Conestogo Trail from PortMaitland, upstream to what became Galt andEbytown (now Kitchener), traveled up theGrand River Valley through this reach. It isbelieved that the original corduroy roadacross a few groundwater rich areas can stillbe found in the Exceptional Waters Reach ofthe river.

The large island and back bay structure of theGrand River between the 403 highway andthe mouth of Whiteman's Creek are believedto have been dredged for a barge canal tocarry gypsum rock from the mines south ofParis downstream to manufacturing opera-tions in Brantford.

1.0 History


An angler fishes for rainbow trout in the shadow of the Lorne Bridge in Brantford. This is an easily accessed, quality fishery for urban anglers.

As glaciers retreated from the last ice age theland vegetation and associated wildlifechanged from a tundra community to a mixedhardwood forest over several thousands ofyears. In the south of the watershed plants aredistinctively different from those in theupstream areas where oaks, hickories, walnutsand other southern species are missing ormuch reduced.

Native inhabitants influenced the landscapethrough clearing and cultivation and intention-al burning.

European settlers saw the forests as enemiesand a hindrance to livelihood. Through theiractivities, forest cover was reduced to approx-imately 5% during the 1800's, being replacedwith crops, pasture and settlements.The resultwas more extreme weather and stream flows.It was a virtual clearing of the watershed inone century.

In time the realization of the value of the for-est cover became apparent. Efforts have beenon going to re-establish as much as possible.Cover has been increased to about 19%. Theterm "cover" includes forested areas and areasof natural vegetation such as grassed flood-plains and riparian areas. Environment Canadahas set a target of approximately 30% for thiswatershed to be healthy.

The watershed and specifically the EW reachis home to the northern limits of theCarolinian forest.Typical species found in this

habitat are Sugar Maple, Beech, Basswood,Silver Maple and various Oaks. Lesser speciesinclude Elm,Ash, Hickory, Black Cherry andYellow Birch. Species such as Hickories,Sassafras, Sycamore, Black Oak, Chinquapinand Dwarf Chinquapin Oaks, and AmericanChestnut are at their northern limits.To thenorth of the watershed Great Lakes-St.Lawrence forest species occur. Examples ofthese species are Eastern Hemlock,WhitePine, Eastern White Cedar, Balsam Fir,WhiteSpruce and White Birch.These species are attheir southern limits. Black Spruce can befound in the boreal style bogs found in theheadwater areas. Species such as AmericanChestnut, other Large Oaks,White Pines andWalnuts were adaptable to ground fires typi-cally occurring in the grassy areas.

As the forests were depleted the mammals atthe top of the food chain disappeared as theirfood source was reduced or disappeared alto-gether. Representative of these species werethe black bear, timber wolf, eastern cougar,lynx, fisher and marten.The red-tailed hawkreplaced the red-shouldered hawk.

The ecology or the Grand River watershed isstill in a period of re-adjustment. This will contin-ue as populations continue to grow and replacevegetation with roads, housing and industry, oftenreferred to as impervious surfaces.

The natural landscape of much of the GrandRiver watershed was deciduous forest with asignificant portion of long grass prairie inter-

spersed with wetlands. In the southern reach-es, the Carolinian forest was a major portionof the deciduous cover.The Carolinian forestwas drastically reduced as the clearing of theland for agriculture, forest harvesting and theindustrialization of towns and cities pro-gressed. This was worsened by accidentalintroduction of diseases such as ChestnutBlight and Dutch Elm Disease. Many speciesbecame rare.The impact of poor stewardshipon these elements of population expansionbecame more and more evident. Efforts toprotect the wetlands and geological significantlandscape became a more focused affair. Nolonger was it acceptable to go in and drain orfill wetlands without consideration of the con-sequences.

Two major moraines have an influence on thiswatershed.Their value became apparent asthe uncontrolled taking of water impactedthese major reservoirs of deep groundwater.The destruction of parts of the Paris and Galtmoraines through mining and wetland lossbecame significant in the drought conditionsthat occurred over time. The most recentdrought has occurred in the late 1990's andearly 2000's. It also became evident they couldbe damaged by uncontrolled pollution fromexisting agriculture, municipal and industrialpractices which allowed contaminates to seepinto groundwater sources (GRCA 2001Regional Groundwater Study; Cooke 2005).

2.0 Landscape


An aerial view of Brantford reveals the mix of urban development, agriculture and natural habitat that is typical of what is found along the Exceptional Water's reach.


Prior to settlement the land in the GrandRiver watershed was predominately forest,with Oak Savanna's typical in the mid to lowerGrand River, maintained by either natural fireepisodes or native induced fires.The rapidremoval of the forest for lumber exploitationand for clearing for agriculture meant that bythe end of the 19th century a major land usechange had occurred. Over the 20th centurythe original agriculture focus was added towith a solid industrial and urban component.Large sections of the watershed, especially inthe Waterloo/Kitchener/Cambridge andGuelph area, and lesser so in Paris andBrantford, had the softer agriculture/woodlandcomponent substituted with hard landuse

identified by impervious surfaces such asstreets, parking lots and building coverage.These impervious surfaces fundamentallychanged the water budget in urbanized land-scapes, dramatically reducing recharge andevapo-transpiration and dramatically increasingsurface run-off. Therefore, moisture, insteadof being absorbed back into the land after rainor snowfall, now ran off, mixing with oil, roaddirt, salt and many other materials throughstorm sewers directly into streams and even-tually the mainstem of the river. The increasein the magnitude and frequency of runoffseverely damaged stream channels, increasingtheir widths, decreasing depths and fillingthem with sediment.This changed the water

budget of the Grand river substantially, provid-ing far more surface runoff, leading to moresevere and intense floods. Figure 2 providesan example of the change in water budgetfrom a forested landscape, to agriculture tourban.

Treated waste from sanitary sewage treatmentfacilities was directly added to the mix enter-ing the main river channel, bringing with it ahigh load of nutrients and undesirable chemi-cals (Cooke 2005).

3.0 Land Use

The character, form and nature of rivers andstreams are a function of the geology and cli-mate of an area.The geology and climate dic-tate the nature of the stream, its gradient, sub-strate, fertility, productivity and the animal andplant communities found adjacent and within itswaters. Dr. H.B.N. Hynes, an eminent riverecologist, eloquently stated in 1975 that, "Astream is only as healthy as the valley throughwhich it flows". Put another way, rivers andstreams and the life supported by them are theultimate integrators of the physical, chemicaland biological processes that occur throughoutthe watershed.

The background document to the Grand RiverFisheries Management Plan describes and sum-marizes the impact of the geology in moredetail than we have explored in this report. Itidentifies the impact of soil and ground struc-ture in defining the type of flows found in awatershed system.

The geology of the Grand River watershedprovides significant releases of groundwater insome areas of the watershed to support cold-water fish populations. However, the distribu-tion of these groundwater discharge zones iscontrolled by the surface and bedrock geologi-cal conditions. These conditions also affect thevalley and channel forms and subsequently thehabitat available for various fish species. As aresult, some reaches and sub-watersheds of theGrand have coldwater fish communities andother areas with less groundwater and a

warmer aquatic climate support mixed wateror warmwater fish populations.

There are 11 physiographic areas in the water-shed and each supports slightly to extensivelydifferent habitats. In further studying the physi-cal and biological data on the watershed itbecomes apparent there are different habitats,divided into three (3) major zones.These 3zones can be further sub-divided between the

main stem and the tributary's eco-zones.To aidin planning and management of the aquaticresources of the Grand River watershed, seven(7) major ecological zones were established:

Upper Grand River Reach (Headwaters to upper end of BelwoodReservoir)

Middle Grand River Reach (Belwood Reservoir to Brantford-CockshuttBridge)

Lower Grand River Reach (Brantford-Cockshutt Bridge to Lake Erie)

Conestoga River Sub-BasinSpeed River Sub-BasinNith River Sub-BasinHorner's/Whiteman's Sub-Basin

The three primary geological zones establishedin the main stem resulted from an examinationof the geology and resulting ecology of theriver.There was a sufficiently different set ofcharacteristics to divide the main stem intothree reaches.A partial summary will help todevelop an understanding of how these impactfish habitats.

In the Upper Grand we find clayey tosilty/clayey till plains and low moraines withpoor to very poor infiltration, flashy flood flowsand extreme low base flows. Many first ordertributaries are intermittent in nature. Bedrockoutcroppings occur near the surface of themain stem upstream and downstream of GrandValley. In the lower reaches below Grand Valleyand east of Bellwood there are limited occur-

4.0 Watershed Biophysical System

Figure 2: Change in a Watershed fromPre-European Settlement (in a ForestedLandscape) to Agriculture to Urban (Wright and Imhof).

rences of shallow moraines that generate lowactive groundwater discharge features.Thiscombination of features provides limited stableyear round fish habitat and reproduction envi-ronment.

The surficial geography of the Middle Grand(see Figure 3) is complex with extensive kamemoraines, sand moraines and glacial spillwaysinterspersed with sandy to sandy/silty tillmoraines with rolling topography.The hydrolo-gy in the tributaries is complex because of thelarge amounts of groundwater due to the surfi-cial and bedrock geology.This generates higherbase flows, cooler temperatures and betteropportunities to restore water quality quicklybecause of the dilution factor. Groundwater is asignificant factor in the Middle Grand, especiallybetween Cambridge and the southern end ofBrantford. Localized outcropping of Devonianbedrock, especially Amabel formation, createsregional groundwater discharge points.At theedge of the boundary between the middle andlower Grand there is a finger of the NorfolkSandplain with substantial groundwater dis-charges.The main river channel also hasnumerous areas of active groundwater dis-charge generating thermal refuges for variousfish species, especially in the middle to lowerportion of the sub-basin.

Glacial lake deposits of silts and clay resulting invery poor infiltration dominate the LowerGrand Reach from the Cockshutt Bridge inBrantford to Lake Erie. Under the glacial lakedeposits occur deep deposits of silty/clayey tillmixed with cobble and boulders.Topography ofthe section ranges from moderate to rolling torelatively flat.Riparian zones are limited in much of the lowergrand allowing the infiltration of silt from agri-cultural operations.The removal of most of thelarger trees for agricultural purposes limits theopportunity for debris deposits that contributeto channel complexity, particularly in the tribu-taries, therefore it is lacking.

The tributaries are predominately highly mean-dering, narrow and with deep sand or silt sub-strates often referred to as E5 or E6 type. Inthe Lower Grand the main stem predominatelyflows through a wide and deep valley cuttingthrough the silty/clay deposits into the olderformation comprised of silty/clayey cobbleboulder till.This results in a course substratedespite the dominant fine particles of the sur-face geology.The absence of significant riparian zone, intensi-ty of agriculture, large old dams such asCaledonia and Dunnville, the presence ofberms and dykes and unstable banks all addconstraints to fish management.

Rehabilitation efforts in the limited number ofsuitable zones would be best directed to pikeand muskellunge.The population of walleye inthe area is less than would be anticipated andcauses for this are under investigation.

The Exceptional Waters zone is found withinthe Middle Grand River Reach and in additionto the main stem is fed by both the Nith andHorner's/Whiteman's tributaries. It contains a

variety of water conditions. Specifically, thisreach of river is found on the main stem of theGrand River, with contributions from twoother eco-zones, the Nith and Whiteman'sCreek Sub-basins. Fish communities in thisreach of river are a mixture of cold water,mixed water, and warm water communities.The reason for this diversity is the enormousamounts of groundwater that enter this reach,directly from groundwater seepages and from


Figure 3: Surficial Geology of the Middle Grand River (Exceptional Waters Reach Circled in Red)


the tributaries as well. As a result, some por-tions of this reach of river have "two story"fisheries hosting both healthy warm water andcoldwater fish communities. The coldwatercommunities are concentrated in the areas ofhighest groundwater discharges. These dis-charges moderate water temperature extremesallowing for suitable temperatures and thermalrefuges for coldwater fish.

The three major community types are definedbelow (From Wright and Imhof 2001):

Coldwater: Fish community comprisedprimarily of fish species intolerant of watertemperatures that exceed 22oC in the summer.Communities usually found only in groundwa-ter rich areas.

Mixed water: Fish communities com-prised of species that can tolerate more vari-able water temperatures and conditions. Thiswill include species that are cool water tolerantand some species of salmonids (often migrato-ry) that can tolerate maximum summer tem-peratures up to 24 oC for brief periods oftime. Communities usually found where occa-sional groundwater discharges occur.

Warmwater: Fish communities com-prised of species that are highly tolerant ofwide temperature and flow fluctuations and canwithstand temperatures in excess of 26oC forprolonged periods of time. Communities usu-ally found were groundwater discharge is mini-mal, lacking or relatively inconsequential (i.e.,large portions of rivers or in reservoirs).

An elevation profile of the Grand River and itsNith and Whitemans tributaries would show asignificant drop between Cambridge and theCockshutt Bridge.This gradient contributes tothe diversity of habitat as it changes from flat-ter to steeper slopes.The steep gradient andlimited direct drainage between Cambridge andParis allows it to be a recovery reach feedingthe Exceptional Waters reach of the river.

Adding to the diversity is a measurable climatechange as the river passes through the areasouth of Cambridge.The band that runs eastand west near St George marks the line wherethe change can be most notable and the slopethe steepest.

As a result of the diverse geological nature ofthe Grand River watershed and its mix ofagricultural and urban landscapes, waterresources and water resource managementare complex.

5.1 River FlowsThe present flow characteristics of the GrandRiver are very different than they were at thetime of European settlement. The potential ofthe Grand River to return to its historical nat-ural flows is, practically, wishful thinking.Current land practices and the needs of anever-expanding population have removed thepotential to ever achieve this objective.Thenatural holding capacity of the river valley inpre settlement times has forever beenremoved.The destruction of the forest coverand the draining of the Great Swamp, north ofGrand Valley, was the first major change in thewatershed, removing a major headwater stor-age area and radically increasing the flood vol-umes and decreasing the flood durations. Thebuilding of drains to accommodate agricultureand urbanization continued this derisiveprocess.

It took most of the late 1700 and 1800's todestroy the natural water holding ability ofthe watershed. In 1932 the first steps wereintroduced to manage river flows only aftergreat cries of distress were heard from thecommunities that suffered major flood damage

on a regular basis and catastrophic flooding inthe late 1920's.The modern conservationprocesses that are acting as alternatives to thelost natural environment are demonstratingriver improvements are possible through theuse of large reservoirs (although not all thebenefits of natural storage wetlands are real-ized).The management of watersheds by conserva-tion authorities is contributing to the stabiliza-tion of flows.This management reduces theextremes of spring floods and summer lowflows.

The first effort to stabilize flows came in1932, after years of pleading by communities,such as Galt and Brantford, which regularlyflooded. Devastating flooding in 1929 was thelast straw.The Grand River Commissionunder the chairmanship of William Philip wasto build reservoirs to control flows.A studyon behalf of the Minister of Mines andForests, the Hon.William Finlayson, was con-ducted by Hydro Electric chief hydraulic ngi-neer Dr.T. H. Hogg and L.V. Rorke, Surveyor-General of Canada. It had recommendedthree storage dams to contain the high springflows and to supplement the low summerflows. In effect, the dams were installed toreplace the natural hydrological functions andnatural holding capacity of the wetlands and ofthe Great Swamp that once existed aroundLuther Marsh. The Shand Dam was construct-ed in 1939. It was the first dam built in

Canada for conservation purposes. Thereinlay the beginning of the revival of the Grand.Figures 4 and 5 provide examples of theamount of flow augmentation in the mainstem of the Grand River for two specificyears: 1999 during extreme drought condi-tions; and 2000 during a near normal precipi-tation year.

The responsibility for the engineering of flowcontrol for the watershed now lies with theGrand River Conservation Authority.Variousstudies over time have provided informationon the impact of flow rates at varying times ofthe year. Substantial information on flow man-agement is available on the website atwww.grandriver.ca. It is safe to say that theriver would not have a healthy coldwater fishcommunity below Belwood Lake, nor haverecovered to the point it has today withoutthe building and proper management of thesereservoirs and dams.

In addition to the flow control managementthe management of municipal waste waterplants has improved greatly.This has resultedthrough on going improvements to treatingprocesses and the building of newer facilities.The waste water plants will continue to bechallenged as we strive to identify and quantifythe impact of biologicals on the watershed,especially those that are not changed by cur-rent treatment methods.

5.0 Water Resources


5.2 Ground WaterGround Water is a major factor in the ecolo-gy of the Grand River.The cold-water tribu-taries that support the native brook trout arefed primarily from ground water dischargeareas, both as diffuse seepages and by pointsource springs. In dry periods the only sourceof flow in these tributaries is ground water.

The ground water's stable, low temperatureprovides the cooling of surface waters in thesummer and the warming of surface watertemperatures in the winter when they mix asthey move downstream.This moderatingeffect provides temperatures that are suitablefor most species. Trout and bass are the mostfrequently fished species in the Grand River inthe Exceptional Waters reach.The "two story"

fishery has both species in the same poolsoccupying different levels.

In addition to temperature, the ground waterprovides a significant increase to flows in themiddle and lower Grand.The map below(Figure 6) provides an estimate of groundwater seeping into the Grand River betweenCambridge and Brantford. It can be as much

Figure 4: Flow Augmentation During a Severe Drought Year.

Figure 5: Flow Augmentation on the Grand River During a Normal Year.


as 25 % of the flow passing through Brantfordduring normal low flow periods.As well as vol-ume, groundwater provides a better quality ofwater for municipalities below this area takingtheir water supplies directly from the river.

5.3 Channel Structure ( Exceptional Waters Reach)In May of 2002, Shelley Gorenc through anMNR/GRCA initiative published a reportdescribing her work in developing a fishspecies/hydraulic habitat interaction profile ofthe Grand River between the William StreetBridge in Paris and the Pedestrian Bridge atthe upstream limits of Brant Conservation

Area. Gorenc had found evidence from stud-ies in 1993 and 1999 that, in larger rivers,hydraulic characteristics are the best descrip-tors of fish community use.

The research Gorenc and others conductedoccurred from 1999 to 2002 and involved 78riffle and 46 pool intersects in the reach.Thiswork established a base to determine perma-nent locations for a longer-term study. Fivepool and six riffle transects were chosen aspermanent sampling sites and a further fivepool and two riffle permanent transects wereproposed to monitor changes in hydraulichabitat under various river flows (Tables 1 and2). Results from the study were compared to

existing information found in literature andwere found to be in agreement. The studydetermined the morphology of the GrandRiver between Paris and Brantford matchesthat of a healthy river system.This demon-strates the huge improvement over the pastnumber of years in river quality and theimpact of the work by multi levels of govern-ment to improve water quality by upgradingwater and waste water systems. Much of thework was conducted during a period of lowriver flows and made it possible to complete asignificant amount of work in 2001.

In comparison with the pool study (See Table1 and 2), mean total riffle length is 1.75 times

Figure 6: Approximately 3.3 m3/s of groundwater flows into the Grand between Cambridge and Brantford (excluding the Nith and Whiteman's).The reach was divided into 3 smaller reaches and the respective groundwater discharges are shown. The reservoirs are operated to keep 17 m

3/s

going through the Grand at Brantford. The 3.3 measured equates to roughly 20% of the summer low flow target at Brantford.


larger than mean total pool length if the out-lier pools are considered in the analysis. Withthe exclusion of the outlier values, riffles are2.1 times longer than the pools. In general,one would expect average riffle length valuesto be 2-3 times larger than pool values.Without Pools 1, 6 and 7, the data from the2001 field season falls comfortably within thisrange indicating a healthy channel structure inthis reach of river. A similar comparison canbe made between the average pool and rifflewidths. Including the outlier measurements,the pool and riffle wetted widths measured 74and 89 meters respectively, resulting in a per-cent variance of 17%. Excluding these outlierpoints decreases the percent variance to 14%.According to Gordon, et al. (1992), riffles are12% wider than pools on average.Consequently, the data collected from theExceptional Waters hydraulic habitat studyfalls close to this predicted percent difference.The minimal deviance between the study resultsand the literature may be explained by the pres-ence of bedrock conditions along portions ofthe reach. Sections of the river with bedrockcontrols will experience higher levels of erosionalong the banks, creating wider cross sectionsthan would normally be expected.

The exclusion of the outlier pools makes onlya marginal difference in the comparisonbetween pool and riffle surface areas and vol-umes. The overall mean riffle surface area is2.1 times larger than that of the pools whenconsidering the entire data set and is 2.4times larger than that of the pools when con-sidering the edited data set. Average pool andriffle volumes, meanwhile, were essentially thesame despite the exclusion of the outlierpools. This observation seems logical assum-ing there are no net gains or losses in waterbetween the pools and riffles.

5.4 Water QualityWater quality is characterized by evaluatingthe chemical, physical and biological compo-nents of fresh water systems.The water in theGrand River basin typically comes from richagricultural lands (76%), forested areas (17%)and urban areas (5%).The urban areas aremost concentrated in the central portion ofthe watershed.

Water quality is defined according to use. It isdifferent for the protection of fish and habitatthan for contact recreation.Water standardstypically protect human health. Both federaland provincial governments have water qualityobjectives and guidelines.Water quality stan-dards are enforceable by law.

The Grand River Conservation Authority andthe provincial Ministry of the Environmentmaintain a network of 28 water-sampling siteson the rivers and creeks of the Grand Riversystem.A Water Quality Index, adopted by theCanadian Council of Ministries of theEnvironment, was used to rate general waterquality in relation to nutrient content. Thechanges in water quality characteristics for1981-2001 or 1981-1995 are displayed inFigure 7.

Using the index based on information gath-ered between 1999 and 2002, the headwatersof the Grand and its tributaries are rated"good" (See Figure 10). As water flows downthe Grand River from headwaters to mouth, itaccepts rural and urban runoff and the out-flow of sewage treatment plants. The waterquality declines from the "good" category inthe headwaters into the "fair" category as itpasses through major agricultural areas of thewatershed.As it passes the major cities, waterquality falls into the "poor" category becauseof the presence of additional high levels of

Figure 7. Percentage of monitoring sitesimproving, deteriorating or staying thesame for nutrients and chloride concentrations from 1981 to 2001.

Total Pool Information(n=7)

Average (with unusually sized pools)

Average ( excluding unusuallysized pools)

Number ofTransects

6

7

DatumPoints

29

30

TotalLength

540

477

MeanWidth (m)

74

76

MeanDepth (m)

1.185

1.214

Max Depth(m)

2.41

2.15

Surface Area(x10m2)

396.4

356.8

Volume(x10m3)

47.7

42.8

Total RiffleInformation (n=8)

Average

DatumPoints

42

TotalLength

946

MeanDepth (m)

0.57

MeanWidth (m)

89.2

Surface Area(x10m2)

846.8

Volume(x10m3)

48.8

Table 1: Summary of Pool Characteristics from Gorenc (2002)

Table 2: Summary of Riffle Characteristics from Gorenc (2002)


phosphorus and nitrogen from storm waterand wastewater treatment plants. WaterQuality targets are frequently missed in themiddle to lower reaches of the Grand River.This situation should not be surprising giventhe average annual concentrations of phos-phorous in the watershed (see Figure 8).

Recent upgrades to sewage treatment plantsin Guelph and Elmira, along with othersplanned for Waterloo region, should furtheraddress the high nutrient concentrationsfound in some of these areas, but are unlikelyto be final solutions.

Low oxygen levels (see Figure 9) can have aserious impact on many aquatic organisms,particularly fish.The Grand RiverConservation Authority continuously moni-tors dissolved oxygen levels at seven loca-tions in the watershed. Occurrences of lowdissolved oxygen levels take place in the cen-tral Grand on very hot summers and duringperiods of low stream flows and high streamtemperatures.When river flows are higherand temperatures are cooler, there were fewinstances of low dissolved oxygen levels.

Summary of Sites Exhibiting Trends inWater QualityTemperature is an important physical param-eter of streams as it is a critical indicator ofstress on aquatic organisms. Increased watertemperatures impact oxygen saturation offreshwaters thereby impacting metabolic rates,growth and reproduction of freshwater fish(Gordon et al 1994). Twenty four degrees isgenerally the temperature threshold betweencool water and warm water fish species(Stoneman and Jones 1996). Even though thereach on the Grand River between Bridgeportand Glen Morris and the Speed River betweenthe Hanlon and Road 32 are classified as warmwater fisheries, prolonged periods of time thattemperatures are above 24°C creates stresson the aquatic organisms that inhabit theseareas of the river.

In 2004, the percentage of the time betweenJune and September temperatures roseabove 24°C ranged from one percent in theSpeed River at the Hanlon to nine percent inthe Grand River at Glen Morris. Generally,these reaches of the Grand and Speed Riversare considered warm water fishery habitat

Figure 8. Annual average total phosphorus concentrations in the Grand Riverat Glen Morris, 1975-2001.

Figure 9. Minimum Daily Dissolved Oxygen at the Five Continuous Water QualityMonitoring Stations in 2004.

Figure 10. Map of the Grand River Watershed Illustrating the Water Quality Index Scores for Nutrients (1999-2003)for the 28 Monitoring Sites in the Grand River Watershed.



but the longer periods of time temperaturesare over 24°C , more stress is experiences bythe fish inhabiting these reaches.

A healthy river will support many different typesof organisms, from small insects to prize winninggame fish.According to a survey carried out inthe Grand River during 1999-2001, the impact ofpollution on aquatic insects is moderate.

5.4.1 Rural Water QualityProgramA major program working with agriculture andrural landowners was started in the early1990's.This program,The Rural Water Quality

Program, focuses on shared costs to developriparian zones along streams and ponds on pri-vate properties. It targets restricting access oflivestock and run-off from manure storage areasinto streambeds and ponds.Another target isrun-off from agriculture chemicals, fertilizersand silt from freshly cultivated and fallow fields.

A riparian zone provides a buffer between thecrop, grazing lands and livestock holding areasand the stream. Even very small streams aresignificant.This buffer serves to trap and par-tially consume contaminants before they enterthe streambed.A buffer zone is typically madeup of native grasses and wild flowers, smallshrubs and trees and is left undisturbed.

The many small feeder streams passing throughactive agricultural land can have a significantimpact on contaminates entering the main stemof a waterway. By managing the drainage intothese small streams the contamination can besignificantly reduced. Not only does the RuralWater Quality Program help to reduce con-tamination, it also works to conserve water onthe property where the program has beenintroduced. Farm inputs that run off the fieldsare of no benefit to the crop and contribute tohigh phosphate and nitrate content in thewater.These lead to high plant growth and lowoxygen values in the waterway.

The Grand River Watershed, specifically theExceptional Waters Reach, is rich in aquaticand terrestrial resources. This is the legacy ofthe land and a result of the complex geology,topography and land-use land use practices inthe watershed.

6.1 Aquatic Communities6.1.1 Fish CommunitiesBefore early settlers arrived First Nationspeople living on or near the Grand foundmuch of their food source to be fish. Evidenceof this is found in archeological excavationsnear the riverbanks. Larger settlement byLoyalist First Nations and other Americansbegan the decline of the rivers as good fishhabitat. Forests were removed for their lum-ber content and to establish agriculture.Thisstarted the loss of shoreline fish habitat andallowed sediment and silts to enter the water-ways. Human and animal wastes were dumpedinto the river as a disposal method.As the

population continued to grow and more peo-ple needed food and other resources industrydeveloped in the form of mills, most of whichwere powered by water. Dams were estab-lished to create the waterpower needed torun the mills, resulting in the loss of access tospawning grounds traditionally used by fish.Dams create barriers to natural migrations.The building of the dam at Dunnville to facili-tate upriver boat traffic and as a feed for thecanal connecting Lake Ontario to Lake Eriewas a crowning blow to fish migration on theriver. Efforts to build fish ways were limitedand lacking in functionality.The combination offorestry, farming, industrial practices togetherwith the communities dumping of waste con-tributed, in a relatively short time, to thedemise of fish habitat and subsequently fish.Despite improvements since the establishmentof the Grand River Commission followed bythe Grand River Conservation Authority,some have yet to return.

Brook trout were eliminated from most oftheir native range in the Grand River water-shed between 1850 and 1880 as a result ofdegradation of habitat and water quality asso-ciated with urban and agriculture develop-ment. Some remnant populations persisted inheadwater steams draining swamps that werenot cleared for agriculture and in first andsecond order streams on sand plains orkames that received abundant groundwaterdischarge despite deforestation. Of note in theExceptional Waters reach, feeder streams suchas Whitemans, D'Aubigny and the Nith provid-ed this habitat.

Fish harvested commercially in the late 1800'sincluded pike, muskellunge, channel catfish,sturgeon, bass, suckers, mullet (redhorse) andwhitefish. Sturgeon was particularly abundantduring this period.

Today, the Grand River watershed is home toover 80 species of fish. Table 3 from Wright

6.0 Biological Resources

Before a Rural Water Quality Program fencing, cattle access damaged waterquality and the stream bank at this small stream in Brant County.

After the landowner installed fencing with the help of the Rural Water QualityProgram the water quality and habitat values of this site were quickly improved.


and Imhof (2001) illustrates how diverse thefish species assemblage is in the Grand Riverbasin. This table is a summary of informationfrom Scott and Crossman (1971). Table 3demonstrates that the Grand River has a verydiverse species assemblage, especially when

you consider that the Grand River contains44% of all species of fish found in Canada and61% of all species found in Ontario. If weinclude probable species that need to be veri-fied, the numbers increase to 51% of allspecies in Canada and 70% of all species in 0The range of species in the Grand River basinis even more impressive when you considerthe river has had a long history of neglect andabuse. It has only been in the last 30-40 yearsthat major attempts to clean up the river andbring it to a level of health have been success-ful. The present fish community in theExceptional Waters Reach of the Grand Riveris illustrated in Table 4. Missing from this tableare brown trout, river redhorse suckers, andchannel catfish which also exist in this reach.

The preceding table provides an indication offish species that have been found at varioustimes in Ministry of Natural Resources studiessince 1966.A number of species that had vir-tually disappeared, such as the bass, havereturned and established significant popula-tions. Others, such as sturgeon, have not.Other introduced species were not present inhistorical data prior to the building of canalsand large-scale commercial international ship-ping traffic.

In some years, the lack of a species may bemore the result of sampling frequency andlocation rather than an actual lack of pres-ence.

Anglers and fisheries experts have seen a dra-matic improvement in the number and distri-bution of high quality sport fish throughoutthe Grand River over the past 20 years.Astudy of the Grand River in 1967 reported nosmallmouth bass upstream of Brantford.Today,they have re-colonized the central GrandRiver, between Brantford and West Montrose,suggesting significant improvements in waterquality.The same is true of a world-classbrown trout fishery that has been establishedin the Fergus-West Montrose area.

In addition, pike and smallmouth bass aredoing well in Belwood, Conestogo and Guelph

Lakes.They are also finding homes in theupper Grand River headwaters in Wellingtonand Dufferin counties.A migratory and resi-dent rainbow trout population in the southernGrand, in Haldimand and Brant counties, alsopoints to better water quality.

Competition from brown trout and rainbow isa concern in brook trout areas. Small damsthat provide a barrier to the introducedspecies protect some of the brook troutreaches. The design or construction of theseold dams act as barriers, even to trout thatcan jump fairly well (i.e. rainbow trout).Brown trout have been stocked in a numberof tributaries over the years, most recently, inthe tail waters of the major dams in theUpper Grand where a constant source of coldwater is maintained year round.They have yetto become self-sustaining.

The stability and establishment of these popu-lations can be attributed, in part, to a long-term change in landuse practices by manylandowners to allow the riparian areas to re-develop.The main river is now an activespawning and rearing ground for bass, walleye,and pike among other warm water species.Large populations of sucker species (somerare or at risk) and carp are also evident.Fishing within the Grand River and its tribu-taries has begun to attract anglers from localcommunities, regionally, nationally and interna-tionally as the river develops a reputation fora quality recreational experience.

6.1.2 Fish HabitatThe original fish population in the Grandfound their home to be a combination of fullyvegetated landscape with deep channels, rela-tively unaffected by seasonal weather vari-ances.Water was released from natural hold-ing areas in a fairly constant flow.The waterswere relatively cold and well-aerated, shadedareas provided protection on the banks andfood was plentiful. Large wood debris jams,islands and branching side channels and flood-plain pool complexes were common andincreased the amount of complex habitats fora large variety of fish species.

The increased settlement began to have animpact. Sediment introduced from forestryand agriculture operations and the irregularflows, high in spring and low in summer, beganto decrease fish populations by filling in pools

and spawning areas and by adding additionalnutrients.The low summer flows introducedbroader temperature fluctuation, reduced oxy-gen content and provided harmful conditionsthat would no longer support fish.This situa-tion was not to change until the first quarterof the 20th century when devastating springflooding year after year finally brought therealization that something needed to be done.

The Grand River Commission was establishedto determine ways to correct the flooding andregulate the summer low flows. Over anextended period of time, and with multi levelgovernment input, large dams with sufficientholding capacity to keep back part of thespring flows and to release water in summerlow water conditions were constructed.Thishelped to improve fish habitat through theextreme low flow periods during the summer.Modern programs that try to reintroduceconditions that existed prior to heavy settle-ment, such as rural water quality programslimiting livestock access and re-growing ripari-an zones beside smaller waterways, have con-tributed to the return of smallmouth basspopulation.The new, larger dams, by providinga cold tail-water flow from bottom discharge,have established an environment that will sup-port cold-water brown trout species.The pro-grams have also allowed natural small tributar-ies to clean out and go back to being able tosustain a brook/speckled trout population.

Migratory rainbow trout, or also called steel-head, have been introduced from Lake Erieand are now established in parts of the water-shed.They had been present below Brantfordbut never had access to reproduction orspawning areas until the failure and removal ofthe Lorne Dam. This allowed the migratoryrainbow from Lake Erie access to spawningareas on the Grand River and its tributariesupstream to Paris including the Nith River andits tributaries. Rainbow trout are now estab-lished in parts of the watershed.There is con-cern about the introduced brown and rain-bow providing unnatural competition to thenative brook trout.

Many old dams now in disuse are deteriorat-ing and being breached.As this occurs theyare generally not being replaced.As the struc-tures are removed natural flows are being cre-ated, providing more sustainable fish habitat.

The role that in-stream dams play and haveplayed in the fragmentation of river habitatcannot be underestimated. The developmentof dams for milling and power helped to cre-ate the prosperity that we enjoy today.However, this prosperity came and still comesat a cost. For example, recent research by a

Geographic Area

CanadaAtlantic BasinOntarioGrand River Basin (confirmed)Grand River Basin (probable)

Number of Species

1811421328092

% of Total

1007873

66 (61)*5 (70)*

Table 3: Summary of Species Richness of the Grand River Basin in Comparison toother Geographic Areas of Canada (from Scott and Crossman 1971 and Wright and Imhof 2001)

* Brackets are the percentage in relationship to all species in Ontario


number of scientists suggests that coldwaterfish such as brook trout utilized more por-tions of the watersheds than they do today.Brook trout do have a tendency to movegreat distances for over-summer and over-winter habitat. There is strong evidence fromthe Grand River and other rivers that largeradult brook trout once used the main stem oflarger rivers such as the Grand for over win-tering habitat. These fish would spawn in latefall in the headwater streams and after spawn-ing would migrate downstream to the largeriver to over-winter. The large river wouldprovide more habitat space, better food andother resources for the winter. These fishwould remain in the large river until itwarmed in late May and then would migrateup into the tributaries for the summer anduntil after spawning in the fall. Therefore,large warm-water rivers, adjacent to coldwa-ter tributaries were major habitats for cold-water fish that we always thought only lived inthe small coldwater tributaries.

The development of mill dams on our coldwa-ter tributaries cut these larger fish off fromcritical over-winter habitat and ultimately ledto smaller populations of smaller individuals.Other species of fish also show strong move-ment tendencies between tributaries and larg-er streams. Therefore, as small dams arebreached or removed, we may once morereconnect the river and its fish populations tothe tributaries.

A return to an environment where beaverdams were the major hindrance to migrationis again occurring, especially in tributaries thatprovide the prime spawning grounds for troutpopulations.

6.1.3 Exceptional WatersFish CommunitiesThe Exceptional Waters reach of the Grand isan area that has seen a rebirth of the fish pop-ulation.The smallmouth bass population ishealthy in numbers and is beginning to rebuildin size range. Migratory rainbow have colo-nized this reach of the Grand after theremoval of the Lorne Dam in Brantford in thelate 1980's. Rainbow trout are now commonand fish over 2.25 Kg are regularly caught.The tributaries within this reach of river, par-ticularly the upper reaches of these tributar-ies, have natural populations of brook trout.Rehabilitation efforts aimed at sustaining andenhancing these populations are supported bynumerous conservation and environmentalorganizations. Conservation groups, includingBrantford Steelheaders, Brant Rod & GunClub, Bell City Anglers, Pauline JohnsonEnvironmental Studies and Trout Unlimited

Canada have been active in rehabilitating trib-utary creeks and providing improved habitatfor the cold-water species. Brook trout donot seem to be increasing in Whiteman'sCreek; however, efforts are being made toprotect them on a variety of tributaries of theNith, Cedar Creek and other streams.

The upper section of the Exceptional Watershas been designated a special fishing sanctuaryarea for all major game species.This wasaccomplished in 2001 to protect and restorethe game fish population in this reach of river,especially smallmouth bass. With the removalof the Lorne Dam in 1988, rainbow trout pop-ulations in this reach began to rapidlyincrease. Rainbow trout are also protectedbecause this reach of river acts as a stagingand over-wintering area for trout spawning inthe Nith River and Whiteman's Creek.Protection for trout was also afforded to thissection because of the emergence of astream-resident rainbow and brown troutpopulation as well.

Smallmouth bass populations in this reachexhibited signs of over-harvest, especially forthe large, older fish. There were many smallerbass, but very few over 40cm (14" in length).In a lake, larger, older spawning smallmouthbass (e.g. 18" fish) are approximately 7 or 8years old. In rivers, due to their moreextreme conditions, river bass may take aslong as 15 years to reach the same breedingsize. The special regulation area is a catch andrelease zone where only artificial bait and bar-bless hooks are allowed.This is intended to allow the populations ofgame fish to grow larger and develop healthystable populations exhibiting a full range ofsize and ages.

The Exceptional Waters Reach of the GrandRiver also contains a large number of otherfish species that are either rare, threatened orat risk in Ontario and Canada. Of thesespecies, the various species of RedhorseSucker are perhaps the best known. TheGrand from the EW reach downstream toLake Erie has one of the highest diversities ofRedhorse Sucker species in Canada.

There is still some question about the suitabil-ity of some stretches of the river as a habitatfor higher quality fish.The southern Grand,near Dunnville and Port Maitland should be aprime place for walleye, but populations arenot as high as would be expected.

The rebirth of the fishery is just one sign ofthe rebirth of the river itself.The Grand hascome a long way since it was dismissed as anopen "sewer" but faced with the prospect of

high population growth and more intensivefarming. It will be a constant job to stay ontop of the water quality issues facing theGrand River watershed.

6.2 Aquatic InvertebratesThe benthic community which includes theinvertebrate populations in and on the river'ssubstrate has a significant impact on fish andbirds as they form a major element of thefood chain.The invertebrates ingest contami-nants that enter the water.As the contami-nants move up the food chain, the build-upstarts to impact the higher-level predators.The impact of contaminates in the naturalfood chain was dramatically demonstrated inthe 1950's and 60's. DDT and related pesti-cides created a major and rapid increase inabnormalities, followed shortly by a loss in eggfertility and the ultimate disappearance of topof the pyramid predators.This was mostnoticeable in the avian population but on clos-er inspection was evident in fish and river rep-tiles and mammals.The benthic community isalso affected by lower river flows.The lowflows contribute to a build up of sedimenta-tion while temperature fluctuations increase.The invertebrate populations important tofish are reduced in numbers and variety, fur-ther contributing to a reduced and lowerquality food supply.

The invertebrate population appears to haverecovered significantly over the last 25 years.The sensitive and somewhat sensitive speciesappear to be growing in number and diversity.Studies are underway through the EWCommunity Advisory Committee to substanti-ate these changes. Many of these benthicinvertebrates make up an important compo-

Aquatic invertebrates are a key indicator ofwater quality.The populations are healthy andlarge in the exceptional waters reach.


nent of the fish population's diet.The morediverse species and larger numbers showingup in recent samplings are very positive trendsin the ecology of the Grand River. Watershedmanagement, improvement of water tempera-tures and reduction of sediment flushing offthe landscape are important actions in orderto continue to build healthy aquatic inverte-brate populations.

The waterway is home to a large populationof mussels.They are an important food sourceto a number of species both aquatic and landbased. In this reach of river, some musselspecies are considered at risk.

The wavy-rayed lampmussel is consideredEndangered by COSEWIC. Though the wavy-rayed lampmussel is not reported in theExceptional Waters area, these mussels dooccur upstream in the Grand River, in theNith River and shells have been found down-stream of Brantford (Morris, 2003). As aresult of their distribution upstream anddownstream, Dr. Morris anticipates these mus-sels likely occur throughout this section of theriver, but this area has not been adequatelysampled (pers. comm. Mar. 18, 2005).

6.3 Fisheries ManagementPlanningIn 1995 the Ministry of Natural Resources andthe Grand River Conservation Authority witha host of conservation groups as partners,began the development of the Grand RiverFisheries Management Plan.This major studyexamined the river in depth as a fish habitat.The Grand River Fisheries Management Planreviewed the status of the fisheries resourcewithin the Grand River watershed and provid-ed direction on how this resource and theland base that affects it can be managed.The

study serves two purposes; namely, as a stand-alone fisheries management plan and as anintegral component of the watershed manage-ment plan being developed by the GrandRiver Conservation Authority. In 1998 at thecompletion of the study, the partners becamethe GRFMP Implementation Committee withthe stated objective of implementing the "BestBets" identified in the plan.

The Grand River Fisheries Management Planwas a multi-agency, multi-partner effort thathas become a model on how to design a fish-ery management strategy for a watershed orspecific waterway. In the end there were 42"Best Bets" to implement a sustainable, effec-tive management of the resource.The effortto implement the "Best Bets" is an on-goingprocess being guided by an ImplementationCommittee composed of many of the originalpartners.

Part of this project included the listing of fishspecies found at that time in the river. D.Coulson of the Guelph District of the MNRcompiled a list that identified 80 confirmedspecies in the Grand River.A number of thesewere designated as vulnerable or threatened.There were an additional 12 species probableand six possible. One species was recognizedas extinct.This list can be found in appendix 1of the GRFMP.The fish populations continueto be monitored as a continuing process.

The Management Plan between 1995 and1998 was a massive effort to examine andlook for ways to continue to increase theimproving fish populations.There were twogoals behind this initiative, one to build arecreational fishing opportunity but foremost,to continue to improve water quality.Withimproved water quality came the better fish-ing.The better fish populations also attractedmany other animals and birds to the area.

The Fish Management Plan fish communityobjectives for the main stem of the Grand inthe Exceptional Waters reach had two focuspoints.The first, with respect to the diversewarm water fish community, was to have toppredators such as smallmouth bass; pike andwalleye dominate the population.The secondwas to develop a seasonal coldwater commu-nity dominated by migratory rainbow troutand to protect and where possible enhancethe emerging river resident rainbow troutpopulation.

There are five issues concerning the objec-tives of the EW reach: Water quality and quantity impacts

through urban landscape practices; Inadequate information on issues such as

the baitfish industry, angler harvest and useand public access points; Fish habitat impacts on migration below

Wilkes Dam, loss of habitat from land use andurban encroachment; Fish population impacts such as competi-

tion between trout species and over harvestof smallmouth bass below dams; And ineffective communication with the

municipalities and the public, inadequateknowledge transfer to the public and partners,inadequate familiarity with Ontario FisheryRegulations and ineffective communicationbetween the commercial baitfish industry andthe public regarding harvesting practicesaround trespass, ethics and sustainability.

A number of strategies and tactics weredeveloped within the plan to address theseissues and these are being implemented inpart through the Exceptional WatersCommunity Group.

Rainbow trout like this one caught near Five Oakes are fall and winter residents of the Exceptional Waters area.


Table 4: Species Found in the ExceptionalWaters Reach,(MNR, Ontario)

Fish Species

American Brook LampreyRainbow TroutNorthern PikeMooneyeWhite SuckerNorthern HogsuckerRedhorse (Various)Silver RedhorseBlack RedhorseGolden RedhorseShorthead RedhorseGreater RedhorseCommon CarpBrassy MinnowChubs (Various)Hornyhead ChubRiver Chub Shiners (Various)Emerald ShinerCommon ShinerRosyface Shiner Spotfin ShinerMimic ShinerBluntnose MinnowBlacknose DaceLongnose DaceCreek ChubSilver ShinerStriped ShinerBrown BullheadStonecatTadpole MadtomBrook SticklebackRock BassPumkinseedBluegillSmallmouth BassLargemouth BassBlack CrappieYellow PerchWalleyeEastern Sand DartersGreenside DarterRainbow DarterFantail DarterJohnny DarterLogperchBlackside Darter

1966

xx

x

x

x

x

x

1971

x

xx

x

xxx

x

xxxx

x

xx

xxxxxxxxx

x

1972

x

xx

xx

x

xxx

x

1973

x

1975

x

x

xxx

x

xx

xx

x

xxx

xx

x

x

xx

xxx

x

1977

xx

x

xx

xx

xxxx

x

x

x

1981

xx

xx

1987

xxx

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

1997

xx

xxxxxxxxxx

x

xx

x

x

x

x

x

x

xx

xxx

1999

xx

x

x

xxxxx

xx

x

xx

x

2000

xx

x

x

xxxxx

xx

x

xx

x

2001

xx

xx

xxxxxx

x

x

x

xx

xx

x

x

xx

x

x

2002

xxx

x


The Grand River valley in the ExceptionalWaters area has extensive forest coverthroughout the rural areas. Although the for-est cover is concentrated down through theGrand River valley, it does extend outside thevalley in many locations, particularly wheresmall-incised watercourses enter the valley.

The Grand River Valley is a spillway that cutsthrough a horseshoe moraine and the NorfolkSand Plain. Due to the permeability of thesandy soils in this area, the soils rechargewater and dry quickly.As a result, historically,large patches of the surrounding landscapeand portions of the valley included prairie andoak savannah. Today, along the steep upperportions of the valley, the vegetation includesa mosaic of remnant provincially significantdry tall-grass black oak savannah, dry to freshred oak forests and dry to fresh white ashdeciduous forest. The valley tablelands sustainremnant tall-grass prairies and savannah, aswell as cultural fields, thickets, plantation andwoodlands. Other Carolinian forest typesfound within the valley include black walnutand hackberry forests (North-SouthEnvironmental Inc.April, 2005). Most of thedeciduous forests show evidence of recentselective logging.

The savannah and prairies located within thevalley are threatened by succession and non-native species. Where canopy openings occuras a result of trees falling over or past agricul-tural practices, prairie and/or savannah speciescan be found. On the upper slopes, white ashgrows between the open-grown oaks, result-ing in shading-out of the tall-grass under story.As a result of the shading, the prairie speciescan be limited to spring flora species thatflourish before the canopy leafs out. Graydogwood is invading open, dry areas of savan-nah, while garlic mustard and dame's rocketare dominating the ground cover in areaswhere the soils have been disturbed, and inthe floodplain. Common buckthorn forms adense shrub layer along the mid-slope areasand along the bottomlands (North-SouthEnvironmental Inc.April, 2005).

Due to the steepness of the valley, wetlandsare generally limited to a narrow fringe alongthe river. These wetland communities includereed canary-grass meadow marsh and thicketswamp. The unique geology of the area hasresulted in seepage along the valley wall andthe formation of a Perched Fen wetland. Thisperched mineral prairie fen represents thelargest and least disturbed example of this

globally rare plant community in NorthAmerica (North-South Environmental Inc.April, 2005).

Though there are many non-native specieswithin the plant community, there are manyrare significant species, such as: common hoptree, dwarf chinquapin oak, sweet pignut hick-ory, pignut hickory, green milkweed, midlandsedge, northern drop seed, rigid sedge, bristlybuttercup, eastern yellow star-grass, and hairyfruited sedge.

The Ministry of Natural Resources is studyingthe Grand River valley and its contiguousforested areas from Paris to Brantford as partof a candidate Area of Natural and ScientificInterest, (ANSI). The area above Paris toCambridge is already designated.The projecthas undertaken one field season of inventorywork and a partial analysis to determine therepresentation of these features withinEcodistricts 7-6 and 7-2.

The Grand River is considered provincially sig-nificant as a linear connected watershed.Because of the nature of the lands adjacent tothe river, a contiguous vegetative zone occursalong much of the river's length. This connec-tion is possible because highly variable waterflow and significant groundwater dischargedictates an area down through the valley thatis flood plain or wetland for much of thewatershed.This natural zone allows wildlife tomove freely in the watershed.A roaming herdof white tailed deer in Brantford's woodedzone use the corridor to move up and downthe area, providing an excellent demonstrationof how the corridor functions.

The designated ANSI corridor between Parisand Galt is located along the boundarybetween two major ecoregions of southernOntario, namely the Great Lakes - St.Lawrence Forest region and the DeciduousForest Region or Carolinian Life Zone. Theforest areas can generally be characterized asa mosaic of dry-mesic upland forest inter-spersed with seepage slopes and mixed forestswamps. This 18-kilometre stretch of theGrand River from the Cambridge city limits toapproximately four kilometres north of Pariscomprises 790 ha of contiguous natural area,including riverine bottomland, slopes, and bankridges. The area also includes a narrow out-wash terrace along the river comprised ofgravel and sand derived from the Galt andParis moraines. The Grand River Forests offerone of the best examples of a largely unbro-

ken, naturally vegetated riverine corridor insouthern Ontario. The area also providesexcellent examples of forest interior habitatwithin a landscape of agriculture, aggregateextraction and encroaching rural estate devel-opment.Modern development is discouraged in thiszone in order to protect the sensitive ecosys-tem. Development as exemplified by the rem-nant historical building, such as in the river-front through the downtown area of old Galt,now part of Cambridge, and Paris, would notbe allowed in today's climate. Much of theimpetus for control of the river in theearly1900's was due to flooding on the mainstreets of streamside communities wherebuildings were allowed in the river's historicalflood plain.

The predominately warm microclimates in thesheltered river valley system have promotedthe growth of a variety of Carolinian speciesthat are typically associated with more south-ern climates of the Carolinas in the southeast-ern United States. Sassafras, sycamore, andtulip trees can be found within this area.Some species such as the American chestnutand butternut are still prone to disease, andare considered very rare in Canada.Prairie communities occur to the south of theCity of Cambridge and include specific zonesin Brant County. The prairie along Highway24 is quite extensive (1 ha) while other rem-nants are much smaller. However, they containa number of unique herb associations not rep-resented elsewhere in this region. Theseprairies are remnants of formerly much morewidespread prairie and savannah ("plains" and"oak plains"), which occurred here prior toEuropean settlement. These prairie remnantsoccur on the well-drained stony loam soils ofthe Galt Moraine, and the sandy soils of thelower-lying spillway that abut the moraine.They are located on the crests of bluffs, alongtheir slopes and along the level railway right-of-way that parallels the Grand River, andsmall, dry, sandy knolls surrounded by marsh.

The vegetation communities include dry anddry-mesic prairie types. A few open-grownoaks likely of pre settlement age are alsofound here. These remnants support a widevariety of plant species, including 31 prairieindicator species and three provincially rarespecies.

7.0 Terrestrial Resources

7.1 VegetationThe Exceptional Waters zone is only a shortdistance south of boreal habitat and some ofthe older bogs and wetlands have residualpopulations of species such as black spruceand tamarack.A major challenge in boundaryvegetation is preserving small rare plant com-munities and keeping them isolated fromurban development and intrusion by overcurious visitors.These vegetative populationsalso need a critical mass to provide for thesustaining existence of the habitat.Traditionalmethods of maintaining these areas included

natural burns, usually from lightning storms.Some of these methods are difficult to prac-tice in developed urban areas.Another factor in retaining rare vegetativepopulations is holding an unbroken band ofvegetation. Isolated areas, separated by urbandevelopment and industrial subdivisions donot allow the free flow of the bird and insectpopulations that do much to propagate theplant species.The Grand River watershed andstream corridor includes this type of contigu-ous unbroken vegetation zone.To maintainthese vegetative communities and populations,habitat modification needs to be restrictedand municipalities need to recognize the bene-fit to the human population in retaining thesezones. Benefits can include recreational pur-suits such as hiking, biking, canoeing, fishingand the enjoyment and study of the naturalhabitat as well as the preservation of thewater quality and quantity.

In the Exceptional Waters reach we find twosignificant habitats considered rare: remnanttall grass prairie; and a perched fen.

Tall grass prairie, originally maintained throughnatural fire, is currently maintained throughman generated controlled burns. Due to theproximity of built up areas this type of man-agement requires careful planning and cannotalways be activated at appropriate times forthe prairie.There are a number of small patch-es of Tall Grass Prairie under management bythe GRCA and the City of Brantford.

The second rare habitat, the perched fen, is anatural wetland.Wetlands occur when thegeological and soil composition of the land-scape creates an opportunity for the retentionor discharge of water, creating wet soils.Aperched fen exists because of gravel depositswith the right composition of sand and gravelreleasing the water slowly and constantlydown the face of a slope.The constant releaseof moisture provides a habitat for vegetationusually found in flat, low-lying areas ratherthan on the face of a steep slope. Theperched fen is a sensitive habitat and can bedestroyed by the removal of gravel a consider-able distance away.This removes the moistureholding base, thereby lowering the water tableit needs for its constant water supply.Themovement of people through a perched fen isdestructive to its fragile structure and plants.Guarding this special environment from devel-opment is important to a community.Brantford is fortunate to have a perched fenwithin its boundaries.

7.2 WildlifeThere is an abundance of wildlife in the GrandRiver corridor.The river and its riparian zonesprovide a significant amount of suitable habitatfor a wide range of animal and bird life. It isvery common to see white tail deer, raccoon,black and grey squirrels.A conscientiousobserver will also spot red and flying squirrels,chipmunks and other rare or nocturnal habi-tants. Not as evident but present are red fox,coyotes, mink and weasel. Beaver and muskratpopulate the marshes and streams.Alsonoticeable are skunks and opossums.Theabove list includes only a few of the mammals'common to the area.As a consequence of the existence of theseanimals in our urbanized areas, we unfortu-nately see most of them as road kill adjacentto or on our modern superhighways andmany connecting roads.

The bird population, especially raptors, hasmade a significant recovery in the watershed.Two species in particular, the bald eagle andthe osprey depend on healthy, low contami-nant fish populations.These two species oncemore reside in the Grand River watershed.They are especially noticeable in theExceptional Waters reach and efforts arebeing made to establish nesting sites for thesetwo species.

Many other raptors are now common resi-dents. Other fish seeking birds, the Great BlueHeron and Kingfisher in particular, are wellestablished.A significant heronry has beenestablished within the area. Great egrets andleast bittern can also be found in the reachbut are currently considered threatened in abroader area of the province and country.Thereintroduction of wild turkeys has been verysuccessful and they are now considered com-mon throughout the valley.

Some avian populations are challenged byhabitat changes. If either a food source or acover type is lost over time, a species of birdwill be lost with it. Examples of bird species atrisk in this area include the prothonotary war-bler, king rail and red shouldered hawk.

Reptiles also have representatives on the "atrisk lists". In the Exceptional Water's area thequeen snake, Jefferson salamander, map turtleand Fowlers toad are of concern and interest.There have been reported sightings of thequeen snake in sections of the Grand andWhitemans Creek in this reach of the water-shed. This is one of the few areas of concen-trations of the species in Ontario. Sightings ofthe spiny soft shell and Blanding's turtles areoccasionally made at Brant Park.


The Exceptional Waters area has a healthy river valley with a diversity of vegetation and wildlife.


The Grand River is the major source of drink-ing water for Brantford and Six Nations andunfortunately is also a disposal destination forrural and urban runoff and for treated effluentfrom wastewater treatment systems.The abili-ty of technology and land use practices toimprove the quality of the river by reducingthe level of effluent additions can be aredeeming factor with respect to quality.Improved rural land management practices,especially relating to agricultural, are also con-tributing to improved water quality.

8.1 RecreationalSince the river improved recreation activitieshave begun to return to the Grand.Theimprovement in water quality increased fishpopulations.This attracted anglers.A morepleasant and esthetically pleasing appearanceto the river corridor made surface travel bycanoe, kayak and rafts more pleasing. Managedwater flows provided an adequate depth tomake the experience pleasurable.The GrandRiver and especially the Exceptional Watersreach are gaining a well-deserved reputationas a destination of choice for a very pleasura-ble water experience. FitzGibbon andPlummer from the University of Guelph

conducted a user survey in 2000.Their find-ings are listed below:

Estimated that approx. 7963 people usedthe Paris-Brantford section in 2000 (approx.498 people/km or 4 persons/day/km);

Strong use during the "shoulder months" ofMay, June and September;

Greatest Primary reasons for trip were:canoeing (50%); hiking (40%); fishing (30.9%)and cycling (18.1%);

Greatest targeted fish species isSmallmouth Bass;

Expenditures presently are on travel andfood and beverages

The number of people using this section ofthe river has likely increased since 2000.

8.1.1 Water Within the Exceptional Waters three local anda number of nearby outfitters provide guidesand equipment for consumers to experiencethe reach by canoeing, kayaking, rafting andfishing. In excess of 25,000 people have visitedthe river for an on water experience betweenCambridge and Brantford in each of the pasttwo seasons. Many others own their own

watercraft and utilize the resource on theirown schedule. Fishing is increasing as a recre-ational activity as the reputation of the qualityof the Grand River spreads.

8.1.2 TrailsOrganizations such as the Trans Canada Trailsand Brant Waterways Foundation with sup-port from the Grand River ConservationAuthority and local Parks and RecreationDepartments have established an extensivesystem of trails.Along the Grand some useold rail right-of-ways and others dikes andnatural pathways.The rail trail system in theExceptional Waters reach runs adjacent to theriver from Cambridge to Brantford and thenoverland to Dundas.There are numerous sidetrails connected to the system and more inthe development stages.The river corridorexhibits a variety of landscape and habitattypes, some quite rare. Reference to aperched fen, long grasses prairie habitat andunique wetlands are highlighted in the trailguide for the Gordon Glaves MemorialPathway, an adjunct to the Trans Canada Trail.Over 30 kilometers of trail can be found with-in the Exceptional Waters reach.

8.0 Human Usage

The Grand River is used by a wide variety of people for many purposes.These people are canoeing and fishing along the river.


Major progress has been made in identifyingchallenges and improving water managementand quality since the inception of the GrandRiver Commission in 1934.A significant bankof data has been collected to aid in determin-ing what actions would best benefit the water-shed and its populations.The river is nolonger considered an open cesspool.Measurements show where we have improvedthe management of the resource.These samemeasurements demonstrate areas wheremore improvement is needed.While we havemade significant progress in many areas wecan also identify areas where we have reacheda plateau and in some situations are moving ina backwards direction. New challenges arebeing identified and new practices being devel-oped to address the challenges.

We have reached a plateau with respect tophosphorus.The removal of phosphates fromlaundry detergents in 1974 provided a majordrop in their levels.A slow drop has continuedbut we are still over twice what the ProvincialWater Quality Objectives have as a target.Chlorides have shown an increase, especiallyin the spring.This is attributed to the use ofroad salt over the winter. New practices arebeing explored to use alternate means ofmelting snow or alternate methods of applica-tion of salts that would significantly reduce thelevels used.A secondary source of chlorides iswater softeners. Nitrates and ammonia levelsare remaining somewhat constant although ina small number of the 28 testing stations areincreasing. Suspended solids are remainingmore or less constant. Farm practices, such asconservation tillage and more careful applica-tion of chemicals have led to some of theimprovements. Implementing Rural WaterQuality programs along with continuingimproving chemical application practices willhelp to continue improving water quality. Eachlittle stream or small wetland ultimatelyimpacts on the quality of the water reachingthe main stem of the watershed.The fewercontaminates we add means less to remove.

Over time we have viewed wetlands as a nui-sance and a detriment to development. It isapparent that by destroying major amounts ofwetland we have hindered our ability to con-trol our water quality. In addition to acting asreservoirs for the water they also act as pri-mary treatment plants in removing contami-nants. Contaminants move into the wetlandsand minor streamlets from surface water run-off and storm sewers.

9.1 Urban Surface WaterRoads and storm sewers can also create theirown water quality and quantity problems. Insome urban systems virtually all natural wet-lands and streamlets have been removed orburied.They are no longer available to gatherand process surface moisture from rain andsnow.These run-offs are now diverted tostorm sewers, most which traditionally arethen directly piped to the streams and riverswith no primary treatment. This runoff cancontain nutrients and chemicals and animalfeces that are gathered by run-off from rainand snow from lawns, sidewalks and roads.Aswell, this run-off can also collect oils and tireresidues from the roads, chlorine from poolbackwashing, paint and other wastes thatsome residents dispose of through the stormdrains, leaf and grass clippings that get pushedto the roadside and sand, silt and dust thatcollect to ultimately join together in theunderground piping where they are mixedinto a nutrient and contaminate rich mixturethat goes directly to the river.As it enters theriver it become fish and wildlife habitat and istaken into our water treatment plant inlets.This major challenge is being addressed bybuilding storm water retention ponds thatcollect the water and let nature start to workat cleaning it up and settling out the solidsbefore it reached the river.This begins toaddress the problem in new constructionareas but does nothing for the older devel-oped parts of an urban area.

9.2 Agricultural Runoffand IrrigationThe rural water quality program encouragesagribusiness to implement riparian zonesalong the many small waterways that criss-cross their fields and provides financial assis-tance in this endeavour. Many farm businesseshave adopted this program to their own bene-fit.Tremendous loads of silt and chemicalresidue enter out waterways via these smallstreams. Providing a buffer zone and keepinglivestock out of the feeder streams will go along way towards improving water quality.Thecost of taking the land out of production toaccommodate this conservation practice has along-term benefit to agribusiness that helpscompensate for this change in land manage-ment practices.

In parts of the Grand River watershed irriga-tion is a significant crop requirement.Thisneeds to be managed to protect the water

quality. Reducing the flow via direct irrigationcan significantly increase the temperature ofthe water.This has a very negative impact onthe cold-water species that inhabit thesesmall, cool streams and increases the popula-tions of unfavourable invertebrates.A numberof farms taking irrigation water on the samesmall stretch of stream can have a substantialnegative impact.

9.3 Emerging IssuesAs we become more familiar with the river asa complex entity new issues are introduced.These need to be evaluated to determine towhat extent they could impact the water qual-ity. In some instances we may not have devel-oped the tools to be able to confidently dothe evaluation. Scientists are now findingtraces of some pharmaceutical products insurface water.They are of a class that are notmetabolized by our bodies nor impacted bytreatment processes.Additionally, smallamounts of endocrine disruptors and previ-ously undetected pesticide contaminates suchas glyphosate have been recognized in sam-ples.The presence of pathogens includingcryptosporidium, giardia and campylobacterwill also lead to new projects to evaluate theirpotential impact on overall water quality.Currently we don't know what impact we canexpect.We also need to develop tools to allow us toevaluate the cumulative impact of multiplepoint and non point sources of new contami-nants.At the present time the tools are notavailable. Programs such as the recently intro-duced Source Water Protection Plan inOntario will likely lead to more exploration inthese areas in more detail. It will also dealwith the impact of an increasing populationdensity in our urban areas and how we canhave development and a safe water supply.

9.0 Issues and Threats Affecting Exceptional Waters


We have taken our water for granted forever.It was there to be used, a limitless resource.How could all the water in those Great Lakesand rivers ever not sustain us? We are nowfinding out that water is not a limitlessresource, especially if we want it clean.Westarted to learn in the early 1900's that weneeded to manage quantity to avoid floodingand drought.We are now learning very quicklythat we must manage quality if it is not tobecome a hazard to life with a very expensiveprocess to make it useable.We are learningtoo that not only surface water but alsoground water can be contaminated by neglect,over use and ignorance. Contaminates in sur-face water will ultimately make their way intothe groundwater.This message needs to bereinforced to our residents, local politiciansand administrators.

One of the magic things about water is whenwe stop contaminating it nature will eventuallyclean it up. Plants, dissolved oxygen andmicroorganisms, given time, will improve thequality.To allow that to happen we need tostop challenging our water resource, whetherit is a trickle, a roaring river, great lake orocean.

The Grand River is a true jewel upon thelandscape.

10. Summary

Smallmouth Bass are a popular fish species for anglers in the Exceptional Waters area.

Local school children use the river to learn and about their local environment.

Community volunteers help ensure the river is clean and free of trash.


Grand River, Mabel Dunham, 1945,McClelland & Stewart

An Exceptional Waters Approach forOntario Streams, Shelley Gorenc, OntarioMNR, GRCA, 2002

An Access Plan for the Grand River, RyanPlummer, 2002

Technical Background Report for theGrand River Fisheries Management Plan,Ontario MNR, GRCA, Jennifer Wright,Jack Imhof, draft report, May 2001

The Grand River,A Decade in theCanadian Heritage River System, Provinceof Ontario, GRCA, Barbara Veale, May2004,Appendix 6

A Watershed Forest Plan for the GrandRiver, GRCA,Apr. 2004

Grand River Benthic and MacroInvertebrate Monitoring Program, GRCA,Draft 2001, J.Wright

Cooke, S.E. 2005. Water Quality in theGrand River A Summary of 2004Conditions and Long Term Trends. GrandRiver Conservation Authority. Cambridge,Ontario

References

Penman's Dam in Paris is the upper limit of the Exceptional Waters area.

Canoeing is a popular activity in the Exceptional Waters reach of river.

Some businesses guide anglers and other s provide canoe livery services.


Fish Surveys -Exceptional Water Area1966-2002a.German, M.J. 1966. Biological Survey of theGrand River and its Tributaries. Ontario WaterResources Commission.b.Sandilands,A.P. 1971. Fish Report for theGrand River Valley. Grand River ConservationAuthority. 34 pp.(Seines and electro shocker)c.Mason. P. 1972.The 1972 Benthic and FishAnalysis Report. Grand River ConservationAuthority.(Seine)d.Grunchy, C.G., R.H. Bowen, and I.M.Grunchy. 1973. First Records of the SilverShiner, Notropois photogenis, from Canada. J.Fish. Res. Board Can. 30: 1379-1382.e.Grand River Conservation Authority. 1975.1975 Survey.f.Isbester, R.L., H.D. Howell. 1977.AnInvestigation of the Fisheries Resources of theMiddle Grand River Basin. Ministry of NaturalResources. (Smith-Root electro fisher, ¼ "oval mesh dip nets and a 40 foot 3/8" ovalmesh seine)g.Balwin, B. 1982. Habitat Requirements of the

Silver Shiner, Notropis Photogenis:Report to Cambridge District, MNR, on 1981Operations. Carleton University. (Seine,angler's minnow trap, larger minnow trap, twosmall portable electro shockers, later a bag ofstretched mesh was added to the seine.)h.D.P. Coulson. 1987.Aquatic HabitatInventory Stream Assessment. Ministry ofNatural Resources.(Two large Seine Nets)i.Dextrase,A. 1997. Data from Grand RiverElectro fishing, Oct. 1-2, 1997. NaturalHeritage Section, Lands and Natural HeritageBranch. Ministry of Natural Resources.(Electro fish with 12 foot McKenzie drift boat.With anode array on boom, throwing anode, 2anodes out of drift boat, and/ or as a stream-side unit with one anode out of drift boat.)j.Holm, E., D. Boehm. 1997. Fish Sampling inthe Grand River, 1997. Royal OntarioMuseum. 27 pp.(Same sampling methods as above i.)k.Holm, E. 2001.The Eastern Sand Darter inthe Grand River, Ontario. Report onFieldwork in 1999 and 2000. Royal OntarioMuseum. 24 pp. (Bag seines and dip nets.)l.Anderson, P. 2002. Large River AssessmentProject, Grand River 2001. Grand RiverConservation Authority.

(Boat equipped with 5 kW pulsed DC electrofisher and a single boom anode.m.Grand River Conservation Authority. 2001.Migratory Fish Study Grand River 2001. GrandRiver Conservation Authority,n.Reid, S. 2002. Redhorse Study. 2002. Ministryof Natural Resources.7.0 Source: Allen, G.M., D.A. Kirk and M.D.Ross. 2000.A Life Science Inventory andEvaluation of the Grand River Forests andSpottiswood Lakes:Areas of Natural andScientific Interest (ANSI). Ontario Ministry ofNatural Resources, Guelph District, Southcentral Region. OFER 2000-01.Viii + 75 pp. +appendices + 2 folded maps.

o. 7.1 Source: Bakowsky,W.D. 1993.A Reviewand Assessment of Prairie, Oak Savannah andWoodland in Site Regions 7 and 6 (SouthernRegion). DRAFT. Report prepared by Goreand Storrie Ltd. for Ontario Ministry ofNatural Resources, Southern Region,Aurora.

Appendix 1

Community volunteers Doug Knowles, Larry Mellors and Jim Stobbs are collecting aquatic invertebrates to help monitor water quality.


Exceptional WatersParis to BrantfordFunders/Partners

The Exceptional Waters, Paris to Brantford, Community Advisory Committeewishes to gratefully acknowledge its funders and partners for their support of

the Exceptional Waters project.

The Ontario Trillium Foundation, grant in support of the CommunityCoordinator

Brantford Community FoundationBell City Anglers

Brant Field NaturalistsBrant Resource Stewardship Network

Brant Rod & Gun ClubBrant Waterways Foundation

Brantford SteelheadersCanada Department of Fisheries and Oceans

City of BrantfordCounty of Brant

Grand ExperiencesGrand River Conservation Authority

Grand River Conservation FoundationGrand River Fisheries Management Plan, Implementation Committee

Grand Valley Trails AssociationOntario Ministry of Natural Resources

Ontario SteelheadersS.C. Johnson, a Family Company

Six Nations-EcoCentreTrout Unlimited Canada

Trout Unlimited, Middle Grand ChapterUniversity of Guelph, School of Rural Planning & Development

state of resource - grand river conservation authority...5.0 water resources 10 5.1 river flows 10...

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