Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) is one of 36 conservation authorities in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada, responsible for protecting, restoring, and managing natural resources at the watershed level. CVC operates within the Credit River watershed and smaller adjacent watersheds that drain directly into

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

, as well as along a section of the

shoreline. Together, these areas make up CVC's jurisdiction. CVC is a member of

Conservation Ontario Conservation Ontario is the umbrella organization which represents all of the conservation authorities in Ontario. Conservation Ontario is the network of Ontario’s 36 Conservation Authorities. Conservation Authorities are local, watershed m ...

. CVC works in partnership with municipal governments, schools, businesses, and community organizations to deliver locally based environmental programs. CVC receives its funding from municipal sources, as well as grants and donations made to the Credit Valley Conservation Foundation, self-generated user fees, and other service fees. CVC was founded in 1954 when much of the Credit River watershed was used for

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

and

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or s ...

. Since then, there has been rapid urban development within the southern portion of the Credit River watershed, within the municipal boundaries of Mississauga and

Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it the ...

Conservation Areas

Credit Valley Conservation operates 11 conservation areas and other protected territories: *

Belfountain Conservation Area Caledon (; 2021 population 76,581) is a town in the Regional Municipality of Peel in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. From a shortened form of Caledonia, the Roman name for North Britain; Caledon is a developing urban area, altho ...

* the Cheltenham Badlands *

Elora Cataract Trailway The Elora Cataract Trailway is a 47 km-long recreational rail trail between the towns of Elora and Forks of the Credit, in the south of the province of Ontario, Canada. The former Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Rail ...

Island Lake Conservation Area An island or isle is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be c ...

* Ken Whillans Resource Management Area *

Limehouse Conservation Area Limehouse Conservation Area is located on the Niagara Escarpment near Limehouse, Ontario Limehouse is a community in the Town of Halton Hills in southern Ontario, Canada. It has a population of about 800 people and its closest neighbours are G ...

Meadowvale Conservation Area Meadowvale may refer to: * Meadowvale, Ontario, a community of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada * Meadowvale (village), a residential subdivision near the community *Meadowvale GO Station, a station in the GO Transit network located in the community *M ...

Rattray Marsh Conservation Area Rattray Marsh Conservation Area, is 94 acres of environmentally sensitive wetland situated along the shore of Lake Ontario in Canada. It is found on the west side of Jack Darling Memorial Park and is located in the city of Mississauga within the ...

* Silver Creek Conservation Area * Terra Cotta Conservation Area *

Upper Credit Conservation Area Upper may refer to: * Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot * Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both * ''Upper'', the original film title for the 2013 found fo ...

CVC/Conservation Areas
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Activities

CVC is actively engaged in

water management Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; sligh ...

. The average daily flow of the Credit River is 690,000 cubic metres, 65% of which comes from

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidat ...

. An estimated 750,000 residents in the Credit River Watershed, 87% of whom live in the lower third of the watershed, in present-day Mississauga and

. In 1999, 21% of the watershed was developed, and by 2020, 40% of the watershed will be developed (based on approved development and the official plans of the municipalities).

References

External links

Credit Valley Conservation
{{Authority control Credit River Conservation authorities in Ontario 1954 establishments in Ontario Regional Municipality of Peel

Conservation Areas

Activities

See also

References

External links