Background Report

This report compiled existing hydrologic characteristics of the Study Area and its watercourses be established. This information is critical in providing key information on the selection and design of stormwater management facilities for future urban development lands. In the context of this study, hydraulics deals with the movement of water through streams and rivers. Thus, the combination of hydrology and hydraulics allows for the definition of existing flood characteristics and the Regulatory floodplain limits.

The fluvial geomorphology component of the LOISS provided insight into interaction between tributaries and the shoreline, identified watercourses that are most sensitive to Lake Ontario backwater influences, and identified watercourses that may yield the highest sediment load to the shoreline.

This report presents an overview of coastal processes within the limits of Credit Valley Conservation’s watershed and identifies gaps in the existing data required for a detailed assessment of those processes.

This report section reviewed the water quality studies on Lake Ontario tributaries and for the nearshore and offshore waters of Lake Ontario, with particular reference to the LOISS area. The historical water quality information is presented in three distinct, if overlapping, periods: The 1960s, the 1990s and following 2000.

This report summarized the information on natural heritage features and functions available for the Study Area and makes recommendations to address knowledge gaps in order to best characterize the shoreline and aid in its management.

This report compiled existing information related to groundwater -discharge and -quality. The primary groundwater function within the LOISS Study Area is assumed to be supportive of surface water features and aquatic habitat, and contributions to stream baseflow in particular. Groundwater discharge to streams helps to maintain flow even during prolonged dry periods, and thereby contribute to aquatic habitat. As groundwater is generally of better quality than surface runoff, and is also a more consistent temperature, groundwater also adds to the overall quality of stream flow as well.

This report identified and characterized the aquatic habitat and fish communities throughout the Study Area, which was then used to provide an integrative environmental indicator of the health of the aquatic environment. The sensitivity of the fishery, including habitat requirements, needs to be understood in order to prevent any degradation as stipulated by the Federal Fisheries Act and also supported by MNR and CVC policies and legislation

This report incorporated an economic perspective to integrate the socioeconomics and ecology to allow for identifying efficient, cost-effective solutions. Therefore, this report served as a launching point for generating economic tools to assist in shoreline decision making.

This report summarized CVC’s acquisition and creation of land along the Lake Ontario shoreline within its jurisdiction. Occurring almost exclusively in the 1970s, the waterfront acquisition program at the time was designed to implement the recommendations for the Mississauga section of the 1967 Metropolitan Toronto Waterfront Plan. CVC was appointed as the agency which could best manage the implementation of the project and who could channel and combine multiple funding sources – funding for the waterfront project came primarily from the Province and the City of Mississauga.