About One Mile Creek
One Mile Creek is located within the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) with its outlet about 3.5 km to the west of the Niagara River outlet to the Lake Ontario. The watershed is relatively small, with a drainage area to the creek outlet being approximately 5.2 km 2 . The creek drains a highly urbanized watershed area and flows in a northwesterly direction. Land uses within the watershed are not expected to change drastically in the future. The construction of the Epps Drain upstream of John Street diverts the majority of the headwater flows (about 30% of the drainage area) overflow the Epps Drain and spill into One Mile Creek. The Williams Street Pumping Station was constructed to convey flows from a portion of NOTL served by combined severs, to the regional Water Pollution Control Plant. An overflow from the Pumping Station outlets to the One Mile Creek downstream of Nassau Street.
The One Mile Creek flows through portions of historic NOTL and has a rich cultural and archeological history dating to habitation by Native Peoples over 10,000 years ago. A portion of the creek flows along the boundary of the Parks Canada historic site that includes Fort George and the Commons that have a rich military history dating to the War of 1812 and the times of Butler’s Rangers. Landsdowne Pond, a small wetland/pond at the mouth of One Mile Creek is separated from Lake Ontario by a barrier beach that forms and reforms in response to wave action and creek flows. Landsdowne Pond also has a rich history associated with it. The Pond was once used for boating and access to Lake Ontario by the Hotel Chautauqua, a history landmark, built in the 1920s.
For a number of years, landowners abutting the creek and other interested individuals have raised concern regarding the condition of the creek and associated Landsdowne Pond, and have worked with the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) to implement a number of stewardship projects. They formed the Friends of One Mile Creek Community Group (FOMC). The FOMC has held ongoing meetings and has been active in developing projects within the watershed with support from the NPCA. The FOMC has advocated the need for a Watershed Plan for One Mile Creek in order to comprehensively address the variety of issues associated with the creek and develop a long strategy for correcting these concerns. The Watershed Plan would also provide a framework for several of undertakings to restore One Mile Creek and Landsdowne Pond and would provide the necessary technical background for various funding projects developed by the FOMC and the NPCA.
The goal of Friends of One Mile Creek is to:
“Collaborate with the community and relevant agencies to work efficiently
toward restoring and revitalizing the water, wildlife and natural
environment of the One Mile Creek watershed.”
Initiatives undertaken to date by the Friends of One Mile Creek include:
• Providing education and information on how to help improve the health of One Mile creek
• Planning projects to demonstrate naturalization and buffer plantings to improve water quality and increase habitat diversity
•The work of the Friends of One Mile Creek contributes directly to local, regional, provincial and federal initiatives including One Mile Creek Watershed Plan, the Niagara Remedial Action Plan (RAP) and the Niagara Water Quality Protection Strategy (NWQPS).