1.0 Bobs and Crow Lake Catchments: Facts
1.1 General/Physical Geography
| Township | South Frontenac | Tay Valley | Central Frontenac | Rideau Lakes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Km2 | 91 | 23 | 17 | 2 |
| Percent | 69 | 17 | 13 | 1 |
| Township | Central Frontenac | South Frontenac |
|---|---|---|
| Km2 | 30 | 21 |
| Percent | 59 | 41 |
Geology/Physiography
The Bobs and Crow Lake catchments reside within part of the physiographic region known as the Algonquin Highlands. In the Tay River subwatershed, this ancient and hilly geologic region is made up of such Precambrian rocks as marble, conglomerates, and dark or colour banded granite-like rocks. A veneer of glacial drift (glacial till, sand etc.) overlies the bedrock.
Drainage Area
Bobs Lake Catchment: 132 square kilometers; occupies 16 percent of the Tay River subwatershed; three percent of the Rideau Valley watershed.
Crow Lake Catchment: 51 square kilometers; occupies six percent of the Tay River subwatershed; one percent of the Rideau Valley watershed.
Stream Length
Bobs Lake Catchment: All tributaries (including headwater streams) 324 km.
Crow Lake Catchment: All tributaries (including headwater streams) 132 km.
1.2 Vulnerable Areas
Aquifer Vulnerability
Bobs Lake Catchment: Mississippi-Rideau Source Water Protection program has mapped several small parts of this catchment as Significant Groundwater Recharge Areas and all of the catchment as a Highly Vulnerable Aquifer (HVA). There are no Well-Head Protection Areas in the catchment.
Crow Lake Catchment: Mississippi-Rideau Source Water Protection program did not identify any Significant Groundwater Recharge Areas and mapped all of the catchment as a Highly Vulnerable Aquifer (HVA). There are no Well-Head Protection Areas in the 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 Bobs and Crow Lake catchments.
1.3 Conditions at a Glance
Aggregates
Bobs Lake Catchment: Three aggregate licenses within the catchment along with some sand and gravel areas of secondary and tertiary significance.
Crow Lake Catchment: One aggregate license within the catchment.
Fish Community/Thermal Regime
Bobs Lake Catchment: Warm, cool and cold water recreational and baitfish fishery with five species observed in Davern Creek during 2016. The fish community has not been sampled extensively along streams and headwater drainage features in the Bobs Lake catchment.
Crow Lake Catchment: Warm, cool and cold water recreational and baitfish fishery. The fish community has not been sampled along streams and headwater drainage features in the Crow Lake catchment.
Headwater Drainage Features
Bobs Lake Catchment: Predominantly natural and wetland features with two features having mixed modifications and six features have been straightened, historically.
Crow Lake Catchment: Predominantly natural and wetland features with only one feature with anthropogenic modifications.
| Bobs Lake Catchment | Woodland | Water | Wetland | Crop-Pasture | Meadow-Thicket | Settlement | Transportation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | 50 | 25 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Crow Lake Catchment | Woodland | Wetland | Water | Meadow-Thicket | Crop-Pasture | Settlement | Transportation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | 60 | 18 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Bobs Lake Catchment | Woodland | Meadow-Thicket | Crop-Pasture | Wetland | Settlement | Water | Transportation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hectares | -20 | -5 | -1 | +15 | +5 | +4 | +2 |
| Crow Lake Catchment | Woodland | Wetland | Settlement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hectares | -6 | +5 | +2 |
| Catchment | Percent | Bobs Lake | Percent | Streams | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodland | 56 | Woodland | 79 | Wetland | 46 |
| Wetland | 32 | Settlement | 14 | Woodland | 44 |
| Settlement | 5 | Transportation | 3 | Crop-Pasture | 4 |
| Crop-Pasture | 3 | Wetland | 2 | Meadow-Thicket | 3 |
| Transportation | 2 | Crop-Pasture | 1 | Transportation | 2 |
| Meadow-Thicket | 2 | Meadow-Thicket | 1 | Settlement | 1 |
| Catchment | Percent | Crow Lake | Percent | Streams | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodland | 56 | Woodland | 65 | Woodland | 51 |
| Wetland | 35 | Settlement | 21 | Wetland | 42 |
| Settlement | 3 | Transportation | 7 | Meadow-Thicket | 3 |
| Meadow-Thicket | 3 | Wetland | 4 | Transportation | 2 |
| Transportation | 2 | Crop-Pasture | 2 | Crop-Pasture | 1 |
| Crop-Pasture | 1 | Meadow-Thicket | 1 | Settlement | 1 |
| Bobs Lake Catchment | |
|---|---|
| Doran Lake Provincially Significant Wetland | |
| Green Bay Non-Provincially Significant Wetland | |
| Maberly Bog Area of Natural and Scientific Interest, Life Science Regional Candidate | |
| Michael's Creek Marsh Provincially Significant Wetland |
| Status | Bobs Lake Catchment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Endangered | Northern Myotis | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Threatened | Blanding's Turtle | Bobolink | Cerulean Warbler | Eastern Meadowlark | Eastern Whip-poor-will |
| Special Concern | Bald Eagle | Common Five-lined Skink | Louisiana Waterthrush | Snapping Turtle | --- |
| Status | Crow Lake Catchment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Endangered | Northern Myotis | --- | --- | --- | |
| Threatened | Bobolink | Eastern Meadowlark | Eastern Whip-poor-will | --- | |
| Special Concern | Eastern Milksnake | Eastern Ribbonsnake | Peregrine Falcon | Snapping Turtle | |
| Bobs Lake | Bob Lake | Bobs Lake | Bobs Lake | Bobs Lake | Bobs Lake | Bobs Lake | Bobs Lake | Crow Lake | Rock Lake |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buck Bay | Central Narrows | East Basin | Green Bay | Mill Bay | Mud Bay | Norris Bay | West Basin | ||
| Fair to Very Good | Fair to Good | Fair to Very Good | Good to Very Good | Poor to Good | Fair to Very Good | Fair to Good | Fair to Very Good | Good to Very Good | Fair to Very Good |
Water Wells
Bobs Lake Catchment: Approximately 610 operational private water wells in the Bobs Lake catchment. Groundwater uses are mainly domestic but also include livestock, public and commercial uses.
Crow Lake Catchment: Approximately 140 operational private water wells in the Crow Lake catchment. Groundwater uses are mainly domestic but also include livestock and commercial uses.
1.4 Catchment Care
Environmental Management
The Greater Bobs and Crow Lake Association prepared the Stewardship Plan for Bobs and Crow Lakes (2007) to provide a summary of what is known about the Bobs and Crow Lake catchments along with the community’s vision for the lakes and a list of its main concerns and actions to address them.
Development in, and adjacent to, the Doran Lake and Michael's Creek Marsh Provincially Significant Wetlands along with the Green Bay Non-Provincially Significant Wetland in the Bobs Lake 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.
Bobs Lake catchment: One Environmental Compliance Approval was sought for a private sewage works.
Crow Lake catchment: One Environmental Compliance Approval was sought for a campground sewage works.
Environmental Monitoring
Chemical surface (in-stream/lake) water quality collection by the RVCA since 2003 (see Section 2 of this report).
Bobs Lake catchment: Thirty-nine drainage feature assessments were conducted by the RVCA in 2016 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 3.2 of this report).
Crow Lake catchment: Twenty-two drainage feature assessments were conducted by the RVCA in 2016 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 3.3 of this report).
Classification of Bobs and Crow Lake catchment land cover types derived by the RVCA from colour aerial photography that was acquired during the spring of 2008 and 2014 (see Section 4.1 of this report).
The Mississippi Rideau Septic System Office has conducted 149 mandatory septic system inspections and 2 voluntary septic system re-inspections on 119 properties around Bobs Lake from 2004 to 2017 (see Section 5.5 of this report).
Groundwater chemistry information is available from the Ontario Geological Survey for one well (#13-AG-048) in the Bobs Lake catchment.
Stewardship
Bobs Lake catchment: Thirty-one stewardship projects were completed by landowners with assistance from the RVCA (see Section 5 of this report).
Crow Lake catchment: Sixteen stewardship projects were completed by landowners with assistance from the RVCA (see Section 5 of this report).