Open menu

1.0 Jenkinson Drain Catchment: Facts

1.1 General/Physical Geography

Municipalities

  • Ottawa: (23 km2; 100% of catchment)

Geology/Physiography

  • The Jenkinson Drain Catchment resides with an extensive physiographic region known as the Smith Falls Limestone Plain. In this catchment, the limestone plain is overlain by glacial till in the southern parts and across the northern parts, significant areas of organic soils and some localized areas of beach sands and gravels
  • In this catchment, bedrock mostly consists of interbedded limestone and dolostone from the Gull River Formation, some dolostone from the Oxford Formation in the southern parts, and some limestone from the Bobcaygeon Formation in the northern parts. In addition, geologic faults may pass through the catchment

Topography

  • The ground surface ranges in elevation from approximately 162 masl north of Hwy 7 to approximately 114 masl at the catchment’s outlet

Drainage Area

  • 23 square kilometers; occupies four percent of the Jock River subwatershed, one-half percent of the Rideau Valley watershed

Stream Length

  • Jenkinson Drain and tributaries: 58 km

1.2 Vulnerable Areas

Aquifer Vulnerability

  • The Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection initiative has mapped scattered parts of this catchment as a significant groundwater recharge areas and all the catchment as Highly Vulnerable Aquifer. Parts of Wellhead Protection Areas (WHPA) B, C and D for the municipal wells in Munster Hamlet underlie most of this catchment

Wetland Hydrology

  • A watershed model developed by the RVCA in 2009 was used to study the hydrologic function of wetlands in the Rideau Valley Watershed, including those found in the Jenkinson Drain catchment
 

1.3 Conditions at a Glance

Water Quality

  • Surface chemistry water quality rating for the Jenkinson Drain is unknown
  • Instream biological water quality conditions in the Jenkinson Drain are unknown

Instream and Riparian

  • Overall instream and riparian condition for the Jenkinson Drain is unknown

Thermal Regime

  • Warm/cool water thermal guild supporting the Jock River fishery

Fish Community

  • Five species of bait fish

Shoreline Cover Type (30 m. riparian area; 2014)

  • Crop and Pasture (32%)
  • Wetland (20%)
  • Woodland (20%)
  • Settlement (19%)
  • Transportation (7%)
  • Aggregate (1)
  • Meadow-Thicket (<1%)

Land Cover Type (2014)

  • Crop and Pasture (37%)
  • Woodland (25%)
  • Wetland (14%)
  • Settlement (14%)
  • Meadow-Thicket (4%)
  • Transportation (3%)
  • Aggregate (2%)
  • Water (<1%)

Land Cover Change (2008 to 2014)

  • Crop and Pasture (-23 ha)
  • Woodland (-23 ha)
  • Meadow-Thicket (-11 ha)
  • Wetland (-3 ha)
  • Aggregate (-1 ha)
  • Water (+3 ha)
  • Transportation (+9 ha)
  • Settlement (+51 ha)

Significant Natural Features

  • Huntley Provincially Significant Wetland

Water Wells

  • Few hundred (~250) operational private water wells. Groundwater uses are mainly domestic, but also include livestock watering and crop irrigation, groundwater monitoring and testing and commercial uses

Aggregates

  • Part of one bedrock quarry license located within the catchment

Species at Risk (Elemental Occurrence)

  • Spotted Turtle (Endangered)
  • Eastern Meadowlark (Threatened)

1.4 Catchment Care

Stewardship

  • Twelve stewardship projects undertaken (see Section 4)

Environmental Monitoring

  • Nine headwater drainage feature assessments in 2015 at road crossings in the catchment. The protocol measures zero, first and second order headwater drainage features and is a rapid assessment method characterizing the amount of water, sediment transport, and storage capacity within headwater drainage features (see Section 2.2)
  • Groundwater level and chemistry data is available from PGMN wells located along Fernbank Road (W175). Additional groundwater chemistry information is available from the Ontario Geological Survey for a well located in this catchment

Environmental Management

  • Development along the Jenkinson Drain and in and adjacent to the Huntley Provincially Significant Wetland in the catchment is subject to Ontario Regulation 174-06 (entitled “Development, Interference with Wetlands and Alterations to Shorelines and Watercourses”) that protects the hydrologic function of the wetland and also protects landowners and their property from natural hazards (flooding, fluctuating water table, unstable soils) associated with them
  • Twelve active Permits To Take Water (PTTW) in the catchment issued for golf course irrigation, water supply and other commercial water supply
  • One Environmental Compliance Approval in this catchment for air emissions