FAQs

What is a watershed?

• A watershed is the land area that is drained by a river and its tributaries. Wherever you are right now, you are in a watershed.

Why are healthy watersheds important?

• Healthy watersheds provide numerous ecosystem services such as supporting biodiversity, providing clean drinking water, reducing flood and erosion hazards, protecting the quality and quantity of water, and improving climate resiliency. Thus, it is important for watershed residents and decision makers to work collaboratively towards protecting and improving the health of our watersheds.

What is watershed planning?

• Watershed planning provides a systematic and comprehensive framework for ensuring healthy watersheds.
• Watershed planning is carried out to assess and understand the current and potential future watershed conditions and to identify measures to protect, enhance, and restore watershed health and resilience.
• Watershed planning provides a watershed-based framework for establishing goals, objectives, and direction for the management of the water resources and other integrated natural systems as well as human activities within a watershed to ensure healthy and safe watersheds.
• Watershed planning does not make land use and infrastructure planning decisions, but does help inform them.
• Through provincial policy and plans, including the Provincial Policy Statement, 2020 (PPS), the Greenbelt Plan, 2017, and the Growth Plan, 2020, the Province directs municipalities to undertake watershed planning to help identify and protect natural heritage features and areas, water quality and quantity, and to help inform municipal land use planning and infrastructure decisions.
• Current proposals for revised provincial policy through a merged Growth Plan and PPS contemplate that watershed planning be “encouraged” as opposed to “required” to be undertaken by municipalities. TRCA has advocated to the Province that watershed planning provides a comprehensive and integrated approach to understanding natural hazards, water resources, and natural heritage, which is important for effective municipal growth management and to adapt to climate change impacts, and therefore should remain a requirement.
• Additionally, watershed planning helps inform other TRCA and municipal initiatives including ecosystem restoration and management, land management/acquisition, best practices for rural land uses, low impact development and green infrastructure implementation, and climate adaptation.

Where is the Etobicoke Creek watershed located?

• The Etobicoke Creek watershed is located at the western end of TRCA’s jurisdiction. It starts in the Greenbelt within the Town of Caledon before flowing through the City of Brampton, City of Mississauga, and ending in the City of Toronto where it enters Lake Ontario.
• 91% of the Etobicoke Creek watershed falls within the Region of Peel (25% in the Town of Caledon; 33% in the City of Brampton; 33% in the City of Mississauga), while 9% is within the City of Toronto.
• The watershed is approximately 224 km².
• The watershed is approximately 60% urbanized, 12% natural, and 28% rural.

Is this the first watershed plan for Etobicoke Creek?

• No, the last watershed plan for Etobicoke Creek was completed in 2002. A technical update of implementation priorities, incorporating new information, was completed in 2010.

Why was an updated watershed plan for Etobicoke Creek necessary?

• Periodic reviews of watershed plans are an integral component of the watershed planning process and allow for adaptive management to incorporate new scientific approaches and to address emerging initiatives.
• Since the last watershed plan, the watershed has experienced significant changes associated with urbanization and the impacts of climate change. Since many of the issues identified in the previous watershed plan are still occurring, an updated watershed plan using the latest advancements in watershed science, monitoring programs, and computer modelling was necessary.
• Watershed plans help inform land use and infrastructure planning decisions, while providing an understanding of the natural systems that sustain watershed health.
• Municipalities are currently reviewing their Official Plans to ensure conformity with provincial policies.

How was the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan developed?

• The development of the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan has been a multi-year, collaborative effort between TRCA, City of Toronto, Region of Peel, City of Mississauga, City of Brampton, Town of Caledon, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. Additional First Nation and Indigenous communities as well as watershed stakeholders, residents, and the public have been involved throughout the watershed planning process.
• It has included:
• Field work and technical analyses to identify existing watershed conditions that culminated in the public release of the Watershed Characterization Report in June 2021.
• Potential future management scenario modelling and analysis of four potential future management scenarios to assess the impacts of climate change and different potential future land uses (including different levels of natural cover and urban forest canopy, and stormwater management/Low Impact Development enhancements). The Etobicoke Creek Watershed Future Management Scenario Analysis Report was completed and released publicly in July 2022.
• Development of a management framework (as part of the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan) with goals, objectives, indicators, and management actions outlining how to protect, enhance, and restore watershed health. The management framework is designed to address existing watershed issues and mitigate impacts from potential future land uses and climate change. The draft ECWP was released for a 60-day public review period on August 1, 2023.
• Engagement throughout the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan development process with First Nations and Indigenous communities, watershed stakeholders, residents, and the public.

What was the timeline to develop this watershed plan?

• Work on developing the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan commenced in 2020. The Characterization (Stage 2) was completed in 2021, the Future Management Scenarios (Stage 3) was completed in 2022, and Implementation Planning (Stage 4) will be completed in 2024.
• Engagement has occurred throughout the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan development process, including engagement notices, virtual webinars, and in-person open houses to build community awareness. Public surveys were also used to obtain input on issues of concern and possible vision statements for the watershed, as well as soliciting feedback on the results of both the characterization stage and future management scenario stage of the watershed planning process, and on the management framework.
• The draft Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan was available for input from First Nations and Indigenous communities and for broader review from watershed stakeholders, residents, and the public for a 60-day period from August 1 to September 29, 2023.
• TRCA and our partners have considered all the input and feedback received on the draft Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan during the public review period and have updated the watershed plan accordingly. TRCA will be taking the updated Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan to various municipal committees/councils for support/endorsement in spring/summer 2024 and to TRCA’s Board of Directors for final approval in late summer/early fall 2024. Once final approvals/endorsements have been obtained, the final watershed plan will be released and implementation of the watershed plan will begin.
• The Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan is intended to be in effect for 10 years from when it is finalized and approved.
• Through regular inventory, monitoring, research, reporting, and adaptive management, the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan will be adapted to ensure that the plan remains relevant and active for achieving watershed health while recognizing the broader context.

Who is responsible for the development of the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan?

• Upper and single-tier municipalities, in partnership with lower-tier municipalities and Conservation Authorities, are responsible for watershed planning.
• TRCA has developed a new watershed plan for Etobicoke Creek in collaboration with our municipal partners (City of Toronto, Region of Peel, City of Mississauga, City of Brampton, Town of Caledon), Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the Greater Toronto Airports Authority.
• Input from additional First Nations and Indigenous communities, watershed stakeholders, residents, and the public has been received throughout the watershed planning process and has been incorporated into the updated watershed plan.
• TRCA undertakes the development of watershed plans in collaboration with our partners because of its technical expertise, data, and knowledge of the watershed, and its experience in watershed planning.

Who is responsible for the implementation of the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan?

• TRCA and partner municipalities will all play a role in the implementation of the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan. Some of the Plan’s management actions also identify specific stakeholders that will be responsible for implementing select management actions.
• Collaborative and comprehensive implementation, tracking, and reporting of all aspects of the watershed plan will be essential to fully realize the vision for the watershed and to improve watershed health and help ensure safe and sustainable waterways, ecosystems, and human communities.
• An Implementation Steering Committee consisting of TRCA, the municipalities within the watershed, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the Greater Toronto Airports Authority will be established in 2024 to guide and support implementation and will be facilitated by TRCA. The Implementation Steering Committee will work together to create a detailed implementation, tracking, and reporting plan to ensure commitment to and accountability for implementation on the part of TRCA, our municipal partners, and other stakeholders.
• The Region of Peel has included a useful diagram outlining their environmental planning process and the interrelationship with the municipal land use planning process in the Region’s Scoped Subwatershed Study, Part C: Implementation Plan (see Figure 2.4.1. in the report).

Does the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan decide on future land use?

• Watershed plans do not make land use decisions. They are not land use plans, nor do they constitute a land use planning decision.
• The data, scientific analysis, modelling, scenario analysis, and management actions generated through a watershed planning process can be used by municipalities as a systems-based integrated information source.
• The Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan is intended to inform municipalities’ work in land use and infrastructure planning including managing natural hazard risks, ecosystem restoration and management, implementing green infrastructure and LIDs, and climate adaptation.

What is the Water Resource System and why is it important?

• The Water Resource System is a system of groundwater and surface water features, areas, and their hydrological functions within the watershed that provide the water needed to sustain healthy aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and human water consumption.

What is the Natural Heritage System and why is it important?

• The Natural Heritage System is a network of all the natural heritage features and areas (i.e., wetlands, forests, meadows, etc.), and linkages that provide habitat, connectivity, and support natural processes, which are necessary to maintain biodiversity as well as ecosystem functions and services.

What are the significant issues in the watershed?

• Based on the technical assessments completed by TRCA as part of watershed characterization (i.e., existing conditions), the following are the key issues in the Etobicoke Creek watershed:
• Water Resource System: Aquatic habitat conditions are poor with high amounts of in-stream barriers and untreated runoff entering receiving waters.
• Natural Heritage System and Urban Forest: Natural cover quantity is low with mostly poor habitat quality and high vulnerability to climate impacts.
• Water Quality: Surface water quality is generally poor compared to other TRCA watersheds and contaminants of particular concern include chlorides, Phosphorus, E. coli bacteria, and metals.
• Natural Hazards: There are six Flood Vulnerable Clusters, and the watershed has medium or high erosion sensitivity.
• See the watershed characterization report for more information.

What are the Etobicoke Creek Flood Vulnerable Clusters (FVCs)?

• There are six FVCs within the Etobicoke Creek watershed with a total area of 508 hectares (2.3% of the area of the watershed) including Brampton Central, Avondale, Little Etobicoke, Dixie/Dundas, Longbranch, and West Mall.
• There are 41 FVCs within TRCA’s jurisdiction that have been ranked based on hazard (i.e., flooding and its probability), exposure (i.e., what is in the way of the hazard), and vulnerability (i.e., how severely the hazard impacts people or property) data.

What is scenario analysis and why is it valuable?

• Scenario analysis is a technical exercise typically undertaken when developing watershed plans to ensure management actions are based on science and the best available information on current and potential future conditions of the watershed.
• Compares and examines a number of potential future management scenarios to assess the implications of potential land use and climate change scenarios as well as various interventions on watershed health.
• Scenario analysis does not result in land use decisions but is intended to inform them.
• Scenario analysis helps to guide potential management actions and inform future land use and infrastructure decision making.
• For the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan, four potential future management scenarios were assessed:
• Scenario 1 (Urban Expansion with Minimal Enhancements), which assumed further urbanization in the headwaters (upper portion of the watershed), and no enhancements to natural cover, urban forest, and stormwater management.
• Scenario 2 (Urban Expansion with Mid-Range Enhancements), which had the same assumptions as Scenario 1 with moderate enhancements to natural cover, urban forest, and stormwater management. This Scenario included the potential Highway 413.
• Scenario 3 (Urban Expansion with Optimal Enhancements), which had the same assumptions as Scenario 1 with a greater level of enhancements to natural cover, urban forest, and stormwater management than Scenario 2.
• Scenario 4 (Existing Urban Boundary with Optimal Enhancements), which had the same assumptions as Scenario 3 except the current urban boundary is maintained in the headwaters.

How were the future management scenarios developed? Why were certain assumptions made?

• The future management scenarios were developed collaboratively with TRCA, our municipal partners, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the Greater Toronto Airports Authority using the key issues identified during the watershed characterization stage (baseline for comparison are current conditions identified during the characterization stage).
• The enhancement assumptions (including natural cover enhancements, urban forest enhancements, and stormwater retrofits/Low Impact Development implementation) enabled testing of different management interventions to see how watershed conditions will respond under the different potential future management scenarios.
• In summary:
• Scenarios 1, 2, and 3 assume potential future urbanization of the remaining whitebelt lands in the headwaters of the watershed (i.e., the remaining land in the headwaters between the outer boundaries of the urban settlement area and the inner boundary of the Greenbelt Plan Area is urbanized consistent with growth projections/typical development patterns). Scenario 4 assumes the current urban boundary is maintained in the headwaters.
• Scenario 1 assumes no enhancements to natural cover, urban forest, or stormwater management.
• Scenarios 2, 3, and 4 assume a gradual progression in the level of interventions focused on natural cover and urban forest enhancements and improvements to stormwater management.
• By comparing Scenario 1 (with minimal watershed interventions) to current conditions and Scenarios 2, 3 and 4 (with watershed interventions) to Scenario 1, the relative benefits of the enhancements/interventions could be determined.
• The four future management scenarios were designed to:
• Reflect potential future land use change based on best available information and by examining different land use and infrastructure scenarios to 2051 (i.e., the planning horizon for municipal Official Plans).
• Assess the effects of different levels of ecosystem restoration and enhancement (e.g., increase natural cover quantity and quality, urban forest improvements) on watershed conditions.
• Assess the effects of different levels of stormwater control on watershed conditions.
• Assess the potential impacts of climate change on watershed conditions, where possible.
• Climate change was incorporated quantitatively (and qualitatively) into certain modelling and technical analyses based on available data, available resources, and expertise.

What were the results of scenario analysis?

• Based on the technical assessments (including modelling and impact assessment) completed by TRCA as part of scenario analysis (i.e., future conditions), the following are the key findings from the future management scenario analysis:
• Surface and groundwater conditions, aquatic habitat quality, and sensitive species will be impacted as urbanization and impervious surface amounts increase although enhancements to natural cover, urban forest, stormwater management, and low impact development implementation will help mitigate these impacts.
• Even with optimal natural cover enhancements, this watershed remains below recommended federal guidelines for natural cover quantity, but the recommended natural cover and urban forest enhancements will provide various ecosystem and socio-economic benefits and increase climate resiliency.
• Changes in water quality parameters demonstrate the impacts of urbanization and climate change and highlight the benefits of improved stormwater management and natural cover enhancements to help address some of the concerns.
• Optimal enhancements to natural cover and stormwater management help reduce peak flow levels, though not as effectively when climate change is factored in. Land use changes can manage peak flows for all design storms through enhancements and interventions (if TRCA’s stormwater management criteria for the Etobicoke Creek Headwaters is applied), but climate change will cause peak flows to exceed current stormwater infrastructure design standards.
• Increasing enhancements to natural cover and stormwater management help mitigate erosion, which would otherwise increase with further urbanization.

What does implementation planning involve and why is it valuable?

• Implementation planning involves the development of a realistic and achievable management framework with goals, objectives, indicators, and actions outlining how to protect, enhance, and restore watershed health.
• The management framework for Etobicoke Creek is based on the results of the future management scenario analysis combined with watershed characterization. It was developed collaboratively with TRCA, our municipal partners, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. Input from additional First Nations and Indigenous communities, as well as watershed stakeholders, residents, and the public received throughout the watershed planning process was also incorporated.
• The management framework is designed to help address existing watershed issues related to the water resource system, natural heritage system, water quality, and natural hazards and to help mitigate and/or adapt to the impacts from potential future land use and climate change.
• The management framework is focused on:
• Achieving more sustainable land use and infrastructure development patterns using low impact development and green infrastructure, improved stormwater management, mitigating flood and erosion risk, and improving rural land stewardship.
• Protecting, enhancing, and restoring the Water Resource System and improving hydrological and aquatic ecosystems and related functions and services.
• Protecting, enhancing, and restoring the Natural Heritage System and improving urban canopy and ecosystem function and services.
• An inventory, monitoring, and evaluation program was also developed to help track implementation progress, evaluate and report on whether watershed conditions are improving, and ensure mechanisms are in place to adjust and adapt approaches as needed.
• The implementation planning stage also involved the development of the watershed plan.

What is the public engagement process for the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan?

• Since project initiation, the development of the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan has been a highly collaborative process. Effective and meaningful engagement leads to improved watershed planning outcomes. It helps facilitate community buy-in and strengthen support from key watershed stakeholders, residents, the public, and First Nations and Indigenous communities. This helps to garner broader support from policy makers and to facilitate effective implementation by relevant partners.
• The objectives for engagement throughout this watershed planning process are:
• To build partnerships with key watershed stakeholders, residents, the public, and First Nations and Indigenous communities within the watershed and identify opportunities for collaboration, coordination, and strategic resource-sharing to improve watershed health.
• To build community awareness on the importance of healthy watersheds and identify opportunities for improved community stewardship of the Etobicoke Creek watershed.
• To achieve broader endorsement of watershed plan goals, objectives, and management actions to increase the likelihood of effective implementation.
• There are key intervals when TRCA seeks input on the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan. We have attempted to provide diverse methods of receiving feedback to make it easier for different groups to provide their input. Here is a brief summary of our engagement methods to date:
• Our landing page provides ongoing project updates.
• We provide progress updates and engagement notifications to our subscribers/stakeholders list, First Nations and Indigenous communities, TRCA’s Board, the Regional Watershed Alliance, and local and regional municipal councillors, and post to TRCA’s social media channels and in various TRCA newsletters.
• In Fall 2020, we administered an online survey about issues and key components of a watershed vision.
• In 2021, we continued to engage with the public through email correspondence and presentations with stakeholders.
• In Spring 2022, we hosted in-person open houses and virtual webinars on the outcomes of watershed characterization and future management scenarios and solicited feedback on the priorities for action to address the key issues facing the watershed, as well as input on the objectives and indicators for the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan.
• In Summer and Fall 2023 we solicited public feedback on the draft Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan, including in-person open houses, virtual webinars, participation at community events, and using an online and hard copy comment form.
• Information on engagement activities undertaken throughout the watershed planning process is available on our Reports and Resources webpage.

How will the recent provincial planning and policy framework changes affect the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan?

• These provincial planning framework changes may result in some changes to the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan. Prior to finalizing the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan later in 2024 the document will be updated to reflect any approved provincial planning and policy changes, as applicable. If the Etobicoke Creek Watershed Plan is finalized prior to the Province releasing the approved planning and policy documents and changes, the Watershed Plan can be updated at a later date as it is intended to be a living document for its 10-year timeframe.

What is an Official Plan (OP)?

• An Official Plan (OP) describes a municipality’s policies on how land should be used. An OP deals mainly with issues such as:
• where new housing, industry, offices, and shops will be located
• what services like roads, watermains, sewers, parks, and schools will be needed
• when, and in what order, parts of your community will grow
• community improvement initiatives (Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, 2021)