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

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, responsible for protecting, restoring, and managing natural resources at the watershed level. CVC operates within the

Credit River The Credit River is a river in southern Ontario, which flows from headwaters above the Niagara Escarpment near Orangeville and Caledon East to empty into Lake Ontario at Port Credit, Mississauga. It drains an area of approximately . The total l ...

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 (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

, as well as along a section of the Lake Ontario shoreline. Together, these areas make up CVC's jurisdiction. CVC is a member of Conservation Ontario. 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 are typically desc ...

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and

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

. Since then, there has been rapid urban development within the southern portion of the Credit River watershed, within the Cities of

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

and

Brampton Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

Conservation Areas

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

Belfountain Conservation Area Caledon (; 2021 Canadian census, 2021 population 76,581) is a town (Ontario), town in the Regional Municipality of Peel in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. The name comes from a shortened form of Caledonia, the Roman name for what is ...

* the

Cheltenham Badlands The Cheltenham Badlands are in Caledon, Ontario, on the southeast side of Olde Base Line Road, between Creditview and Chinguacousy Roads. The site occupies an area of approximately 0.4 square kilometers and features exposed and highly eroded Que ...

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 Railway ...

Island Lake Conservation Area An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

Ken Whillans Resource Management Area Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer * ''Ken'' (film), a 1965 Japanese film * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine * Ken Masters, a main character in th ...

Limehouse Conservation Area Limehouse Conservation Area is located on the Niagara Escarpment near Limehouse, Ontario and is owned and operated by Credit Valley Conservation. It is within the watershed of the Credit River, being bisected by its tributary, the Black Creek. Re ...

Meadowvale Conservation Area Meadowvale may refer to: Australia * Meadowvale, Queensland, a rural locality in the Bundaberg Region Canada *Meadowvale, Ontario, a community of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada **Meadowvale (village), a residential subdivision near the communit ...

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 Silver is a chemical element; it has symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. Silver is found in ...

* 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. These resources can be either freshwater from natural sources, or water produced artificia ...

. 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 Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

. 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 Brampton. 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