1. Prepared by: Evan Barton,
Juliana DeNardi, Kristen
Glass, Adrienne Parsons,
& Rebekah Short

2. The Jackson Creek watershed is an approximately
114 km2
drainage area that passes through downtown
Peterborough (Hibbert, 2003). The headwaters of the
Jackson Creek watershed are located in the Oak
Ridges Moraine and drains to the Otanabee River that
runs through Peterborough. Figure 1 (below) shows a
delineation of the Jackson Creek Watershed.
Monitoring the health of the Jackson Creek water-
shed is of significant importance as it runs through an
urban centre, making it more susceptible to pollutant
accumulation. This report card will summarize the
health of the watershed based on data collected in
2016.
Figure 1: Jackson Creek Watershed Delineation (County of Peterborough, 2010)
Watersheds are the areas of land that drain
rainwater or snow into streams, lakes and wet-
lands. As the water travels through grasslands and
forests they act as nature’s filters, helping to keep
erosion and pollution from flowing into our water
supply (Nature Conservancy, 2015). Watershed re-
porting helps communicate baseline information on
watershed health, identify local and regional differ-
ences, and show us where to target our efforts for
the best impact (Conservation Ontario, n.d.).
What is a Watershed?
What is a Watershed
Report Card?
Watershed Report Cards:
 Allow us to measure and report on surface
water quality, forest conditions, and groundwa-
ter quality (Conservation Ontario, n.d.)
 Designed to provide on-going updates on the
health of your watershed
 Can be used to assist municipalities, agen-
cies, communities, and other stakeholders
 Provide important technical data and analysis
to communicate an evaluation of local water-
shed health (Conservation Ontario, n.d.)
Jackson Creek Watershed
(Trails and Greenways, 2012)
(Microsoft Publisher, 2015) (Microsoft Publisher, 2015)
(Microsoft Publisher, 2015)
(Short, 2016)

3. Table 2: Showing recorded data for all sites at the
sample location for benthic invertebrates (Hilsenhoff),
Total Phosphorus, and E Coli.
Sampling Site
Scoring Summary
Scoring system
A—Excellent
B—Good
C—Fair
D—Poor
F—Very Poor
Year: 2016
Hilsenhoff
Total
Phospho-
rus E Coli
Sample #
Index Mg/L
CFU/100m
l
Urbanized
Site
(Dalhousie
Street)
1 3.96 0.020 52
2 4.50 0.062 69
3 4.65 0.020 46
4 3.83 0.021 62
5 4.90 0.036 62
6 4.51 0.025 43
7 5.34 0.033 59
8 4.78 0.161 19
9 4.81 0.019 55
10 4.53 0.031 22
11 N/A 0.020 59
Mean 5 0.04 49
Grade B C B
Over all ScoreTable 1: Showing values used to determine score and
grade for average values of collected data (Conservation
Onatrio, 2011)
Peterborough interactive Map, 2016

4. Watersheds are a key component in sustaining life for
countless species. It is imperative that the ecological integrity of
the Jackson Creek Watershed be protected and restored. This
can be accomplished using a number approaches outlined in
the Principles of Ecosystem Health. An important aspect in
maintaining the Jackson Creek Watershed is using a transdisci-
plinary approach which requires a cohesiveness between stake-
holders. The health of the watershed is monitored by scientists
but without involving the community of the Kawartha Lakes and
decision makers of this area, sustaining this watershed would be
very difficult. The results of the watershed report cards allows
both the community and decision makers a deeper insight into
the health of the watershed and allows each stakeholder to give
input on how to conserve and maintain the watershed. This
would involve a knowledge to action approach. Once stakehold-
ers are aware of the health concerns of the Jackson Creek Wa-
tershed, policies and management strategies can be implement-
ed to preserve the health of this ecosystem. It is imperative that
annual watershed report cards on the Jackson Creek Water-
shed are continually completed to ensure the most up to date
technical data is available for stakeholders. The Jackson Creek
Watershed is a source of ecological and social importance for
the Kawartha Lake Region and it is imperative that the health of
this watershed is sustained now and for future generations.
Phosphorus acts as an important nutrient in aquatic sys-
tems and, if maintained at naturally occurring levels, it provides
beneficial services to the ecosystem; but when it exceeds the
ideal level some issues can arise. Ecosystems that are over-
saturated with phosphorus experience degraded health as the
phosphorus contributes to algal blooms and unstable fish com-
munities (Healthy Lake Huron, 2016). Sampling reveals that
Jackson’s Creek has an average of 0.04mg/L phosphorus, which
classifies the stream quality as fair, relative to what the ideal lev-
els are. This means that action should be taken to reduce phos-
phorus levels to increase stream health.
E coli (Escherichia coli) is used in watershed monitoring to
assess a stream for the presence of harmful bacteria, such as
giardia. Possible sources for E. coli include fecal contamination
of the water, agricultural runoff, wastewater treatment plants, or
on-site septic systems (Lewis, 2016). Instances of heavy precipi-
tation can cause this potentially harmful bacteria to be washed
into the stream. E coli levels exceeding the permissible limits
may result in boil water advisories for public drinking water or
recreational water body access being shut off by municipalities.
The water sample analysis from the site indicated that the levels
were within an acceptable limit, with a scoring of B, but there is
still room for improvement.
Benthic invertebrates are very diverse and abundant in
stream ecosystems and each family group has different toler-
ance levels for contaminants in the water (Covich, Palmer, &
Crowl, 1999) . As a result of this, the presence or absence of
specific family groups recorded after an OBBN (Ontario Benthos
Biomonitoring Network) assessment, can indicate the overall
health of that specific stream. The results of the kick and sweep
performed at the Dalhousie St site indicate that it is probable that
there is some organic pollution (Conservation Ontario, 2011), so
there is room to improve the health of the stream.
Discussion Recommendations Sources
Charron, D. (2012). Ecohealth Research in Practice: Innova-
tive Applications of an Ecosystem Approach to Health. Otta-
wa, ON: Springer.
Conservation Ontario (2011) Guide to Developing Conserva-
tion Authority Watershed Report Cards.
Conservation Ontario. (n.d). Frequently Asked Questions
About Conservation Authority Watershed Report Card. Re-
trieved March 18th 2016, from Watershed Checkup: http://
watershedcheckup.ca/images/FAQs.pdf
County of Peterborough (2010) City of Peterborough Water-
shed Map.
Covich, P., Palmer, M., & Crowl, T. (1999) The Role of Ben-
thic Invertebrate Species in Freshwater Ecosystems: Zooben-
thic Species Influence Energy Flows and Nutrient Cycling.
Bioscience. 49(2): 119-127.
Healthy Lake Huron (2016) Why is too much Phosphorus an
Issue? Retrieved from: http://healthylakehuron.ca/
news_item.php?NewsID=87.
Hibbert, A. (2003) Peterborough Torrential Storm and Flood
Report. ORCA Community Based Research Project.
Lewis, L. (2016) Health Implications of Escherichia coli (e.
coli) in Recreational and Drinking Water. The Water Project.
Retrieved from: https://thewaterproject.org/health-implications
-of-e-coli.
Nature Conservancy (2015) What’s Up with Watersheds?
Retrieved from: http://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/what-
you-can-do/learn-more/watersheds.html
Trails and Greenways (2012) Trans Canada Trail - Ka-
Short, 2015 Short, 2015