There are pressures on Duffins Creek due to changing land uses and an expanding urban boundary.
TRCA works with municipalities, other governments, land owners, the general public, and the private sector to achieve balance between these pressures and protecting our watersheds.
Watershed Issues
- Keeping the watershed healthy while accommodating urban growth.
- Promoting recreation and tourism in the watersheds while protecting the resources these uses depend upon.
- Improving water quality in the watershed and in Lake Ontario.
- Our changing climate impacts watersheds. Changing weather patterns affect stream flows, flora and fauna, the types of vegetation which can adapt in ecological restoration efforts, and the demand for water from agriculture and other large scale users.
- Climate change will also result in greater duration, intensity and frequency of heavy rain events, and a shift in the seasonal timing of high precipitation to more rain events occurring when the ground is already saturated or frozen. Development must be carefully planned in consideration of these changes in order to avoid increased risk of flooding to downstream residents, as well as erosion, both of which undermine infrastructure including sewers and bridges.
- Parts of Duffins Creek watershed’s natural and agricultural resources are protected by Rouge National Urban Park and the Ontario Greenbelt, however there is still a need to improve the sustainability of urbanised areas, and to protect and restore the remaining natural systems linking the Oak Ridges Moraine with Lake Ontario.