Sheridan and Cooksville Creeks Restoration Strategies

Project Description

In 1992, Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) completed a comprehensive Water Management Strategy, which included a recommendation to study the watershed’s major tributaries. CVC recently turned its attention to developed areas in the watershed, especially those with direct linkages to Lake Ontario.

Sheridan Creek and Cooksville Creek are tributaries to Lake Ontario. Sheridan Creek drains 4.2 square miles of urbanized area and discharges to Rattray Marsh, a Provincially Significant Wetland and Provincial Area of Natural and Scientific Interest. Cooksville Creek’s 13.9 square mile watershed is largely built-out with a mix of residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial land uses.

In collaboration with CVC and the Center for Watershed Protection, Biohabitats assessed and characterized the restoration potential of these two watersheds. The resultant watershed restoration strategies set forth pollution prevention and restoration strategies applicable to eight different land use and land cover categories.

The project began with an extensive field assessment of the watershed. Field crews evaluated stream and drainage corridors, public lands and schools, road allowances, residential lands, commercial zones, industrial zones, utility corridors and snow dumps. Within each land use and cover, specific restoration categories (e.g., residential low, medium and high density) were then identified. By reviewing field data in the context of these restoration categories, the Biohabitats team characterized each restoration category and developed pollution prevention and restoration recommendations. With the recommended strategies in place, CVC now has a solid foundation for restoring two of the Credit Valley’s highly urbanized subwatersheds.